


Beats To Your Rhythm

by cosima-the-geek-monkey (transgressivelesbiangeekspiral), transgressivelesbiangeekspiral



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Attempt at Humor, Banter, Battle of the Bands, F/F, Music, Musicians, Obvious sexual tension, The Doodles, cophine - Freeform, propunk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2018-12-22 04:25:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 59,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11959680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transgressivelesbiangeekspiral/pseuds/cosima-the-geek-monkey, https://archiveofourown.org/users/transgressivelesbiangeekspiral/pseuds/transgressivelesbiangeekspiral
Summary: Cosima was expecting to come out of the music shop with Sarah getting a new guitar and maybe some guitar strings. She wasn't by no means expecting a duet and a phone number from a hot French drummer.A fun rock band AU featuring Sarah's band, 'The Doodles',  with Cosima Niehaus on lead guitar/vocals, Sarah Manning on rhythm guitar/vocals, Beth Childs on bass/vocals, MK on drums/vocals and a dancing, maraca-shaking Helena battling against Rachel Duncan's band, 'The Neo Notes'Get ready to rock!





	1. Surf's Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I strongly recommend you listen to Wipe Out by The Surfaris whilst reading this, when they're in the practice room.  
> [Surfaris Wipe Out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p13yZAjhU0M)

Sarah got out of her old car, with Cosima following closely behind. Cosima was glad that Sarah drove to the music shop even though the car should really be scrapped, it is that old. Sarah didn't care at all, stating the car is 'still rock 'n' roll.' Yes, Cosima thought, very 'rock 'n' roll' with the Hawaiian girl in the grass skirt on the windscreen and a smiley face air freshener to make the car smell less like the greasy spoon her, Sarah, Beth, Helena and Mika frequently visited when they were bored. Cosima wasn't a clean person by no means, her room was always a mess with clothes scattered on the floor and reports from the labs all over the place but Sarah's car really was _pure dirt._ Cosima dreaded the likely thought of high harmful bacteria results back from the microbiology lab she works at if she was to take a sample. They walked into the music mega shop and were greeted by a familiar face at the counter.

 

"Hey Cosima!" Hellwizard shouted from behind the cash register.

"Hey Hellwizard. You working here now?"

"Yeah only for a few hours. I'm only doing it because I get staff discount on the DJ equipment." Hellwizard winked.

"When you playing at Bobby's again Hellwizard?" Sarah piped up, folding her arms.

"Very soon." Hellwizard grinned. "This Saturday to be precise."

"Great, I'll make sure not to attend." Sarah smiled.

"Sarah what the-"

"I don't listen to that shite Cosima, stop trying to get me into it. Now, let's look at them guitars shall we?" Sarah bounced off to look at the axes she'll be sure to shred on. Cosima rolled her eyes.

"Sorry 'bout that, you know what Sarah's like. She doesn't think any music matters other than rock."

"No worries Cosima it doesn't bother me." Hellwizard gave a weak smile. "Let me know if you want to play anything and I'll let you in one of the practice rooms."

"Sweet man, I might have to do that." Cosima looked over to where Sarah was stood, looking at the price tags on the guitars and with a scowl on her face. 

Cosima slowly walked over to where Sarah was whilst Hellwizard stood at the counter, putting his headphones back on. Sarah was looking at all of the really expensive guitars, and was currently eyeing up a cherry red Gibson Les Paul.

"What a hot guitar." Cosima grinned as she strolled over to Sarah who was staring at the sweet guitar. Cosima had been playing guitar for longer than Sarah had been, and taught Sarah how to play a few years ago. Sarah was tired of playing on her old worn-down Japanese Fender Stratocaster copy that went out of tune every 10 minutes and really wanted a new one she could gig with.

"The price tag isn't that hot though." Sarah sighed. "$2000? Are they takin' the fuckin' piss?!"

Cosima was about to tell Sarah to be quiet but remembered Hellwizard had his headphones on which she was quite glad about.

"I know Sarah but look, it's a Gibson custom. Only the pros can afford them and play them."

"For that price I'd be wanting a free apartment with it too." Sarah huffed and Cosima looked at Sarah with sympathy. All she wanted was a band she could make a load of money with and travel the world, but trying to break into the music industry is hard work.

"Keep your chin up Sarah, we might hit the big time one day. We might've already hit it in a parallel universe."

"I don't know what you're smoking Cosima, but you should cut down."

"Whatever Sarah. Just hurry up and choose your guitar." The two walked around the music shop, looking at really nice guitars then frowning at the price tags. Cosima and Sarah nodded their heads to the Thin Lizzy song in the background.

"What about this?" Cosima turned around and saw Sarah with an emo-goth guitar in her hands, with her tongue out.

"A BC Rich Warlock Sarah?! Really?" Cosima couldn't believe how much of an idiot Sarah was for even thinking of getting a guitar like that.

"What's so bad?"

"You're not an emo-goth 15 year old hormonal teenage boy with greasy black hair Sarah. You will embarrass yourself if you're going to gig with that."

"For fucks sake Cos I was only having a laugh!" Sarah shouted with a smile and put the guitar back. "I don't know about you Sarah. Sometimes I can't tell whether you're serious or not. But hey, it's in your price range." Cosima smiled, looking at the fairly reasonable price.

"I think I'd rather be caught coming out of Rachel Duncan's apartment than to be seen with that." Sarah shook her head in disgust but Cosima really knew the effect Rachel had on Sarah. "It looks like a guitar Rachel would like. Angry, styled with sharp angles, a bit like her hair."

"I agree. I think she'd prefer it in white though."

"To match her dress, yeah."

"Got her memorised Sarah?" Cosima winked.

"Errrrr no, I just remember what she wears cause it's so boring and reminds me of the boardroom off The Apprentice." Sarah blushed, pretending to be looking out of the nearby window.

"Yeah okay then." Cosima smirked before the two looked around at more instruments.

"Oh fuck, don't let Alison loose in here." Sarah pointed to the Korg keyboard they walked past whilst Cosima giggled. They came across some trumpets and other brass instruments and laughed.

"Beth won't like this." Cosima laughed and remembered how Beth tried the trumpet for like a week but gave up because she sucked arse.

"Butt-trumpet Childs." Sarah laughed and the two girls continued to mope around the shop, singing along to The Boys Are Back in Town. "The boys are back in town!" Sarah sang.

Cosima also with a smile. "The boys are back in tooooown." The two sang, not knowing they were being giggled at by a curly haired blonde, who was stood near the drum kits.

"Hey look at this Cos." Sarah pointed out a baby-sized bright pink electric guitar.

"A baby guitar. Cute." Cosima smiled. She thought Kira might really like something like that and liked to encourage children about music from a young age.

"I'd get one for Kira soon if I had enough money. But I wouldn't buy this load of shite."

"It's a decent size though."

"I know but she needs one she can really rock out on. This is a Daisy Rock Cosima, it's an actual embarrassment." Cosima giggled at Sarah's lack of enthusiasm for the diddy guitar. It was something that Alison would probably buy for Gemma and the opposite of what Sarah likes.

"Fair enough."

"I'd rather get her one with bats on or something."

"What, an Ozzy Osbourne tribute guitar?"

"It would be a bit cooler than that lump of steaming hot shite Cos."

"Good point."

"Me and Kira will bring the house down soon." Sarah smiled at the thought. "Giant fuck off speakers, the walls and floors vibrating."

"I don't know if Mrs S will like that."

"She likes a bit of rock and karaoke on the quiet Cos." Mrs S was a frequent singer at Bobby's herself and often liked to go around the dive bars with the gang to karaoke nights.

"What if Kira converts to the dark side to Beth Childs?" Cosima winked.

"And become a bassist? No. I'll tell Kira she needs to attract more attention and that's by being a guitarist. I'm not having Beth teach her everything when I can do it better." Sarah folded her arms. "Besides, guitarists are cooler and get more girls, so I'll tell her that too."

"Whatever you say Sarah." Although Beth played bass and more girls seemed to like her than Sarah, well, except for Rachel, but that's about it and it's something that Sarah shouldn't be that proud about. Beth even had the uptight Alison Hendrix liking her charm, more than could be said for Sarah, who Alison once commented 'leaves a bad smell wherever she goes.'

The girls walked around the entire shop and Cosima was in her element when she saw the Fender guitars section.

"Dude these are awesome." Cosima said whilst she had a hold of a surf green stratocaster. "Jimi Hendrix played these."

"Don't remind me of Hendrixes Cos." Sarah rolled her eyes at the sheer mention of Alison.

"I wanna practice on one of these." Cosima smiled and they both went to Hellwizard who allocated them a practice room.

"Try not to bring the walls down too much Cosima." He said before walking away and Cosima grinned whilst she plugged the guitar in the amp and Sarah automatically cranked it up.

"Give us some tunes Cos." Cosima thought of the song she had learned a few nights ago, Wipe Out by the Surfaris. Cosima loved the sound of the guitar on the track and the drum solos that complemented the guitar perfectly.

She began to pluck the strings, hitting the notes in good time, her guitar mimicking the surfer-style rock tone as there is on the original track and Sarah nodded her head in appreciation. What thrown Cosima off though was the drum kit that began to play in the next room, and just as she felt she was about to lose her focus, the drums played the same beat like the one out of the song. Before Cosima knew it, her and the mystery drummer from the room next door were rocking out to Wipe Out, the drummer doing an excellent job of controlling the toms and the bass drum and Cosima beamed whilst she hit the right notes on her guitar.

"Holy shit you're duetting!" Sarah finally caught on and Cosima stopped and couldn't hide her grin when the drummer did their mini solo, doing a hella-awesome fill on the toms and keeping a very fast speed on the kick drum. 

Apparently Wipe Out was a really hard song for a drummer, what with the demanding fills and fast tempo. Cosima shuddered at the thought of the drummers kick-drum foot after the song.

Cosima played chords in staccato style whilst the drummer pounded on the drums and this continued until the solo was complete and Cosima crashed into playing the melody again, whilst the drummer alternated between the hi-hats, the ride and the toms again, giving a good steady swing beat to the performance.

"That drummer is really good!" Sarah shouted over the noise and Cosima grinned. She hasn't even seen this drummer but could tell that they were perfectly in rhythm with each other. The drummer even stayed true to the original recording and managed to fit in a mini-fill, which really surprised Cosima as the timing for that would be rock hard. Sarah watched on with a glint in her eyes. The guitar and the drums were so tight and it was really hard to find something like that by chance. Musicians spend ages playing with each other to pick up on the other's actions and what they're about to do next, so for Sarah to see Cosima having a surf-infused jam/mini rock concert with a complete stranger was astounding. She wished she could film it or record it but her shitty Nokia brick was bad for recording.

The drummer launched into the drum solo once again, absolutely flawlessly whilst Cosima still couldn't believe what she was hearing, and played her staccato chords once again. The drummer's wrists will _definitely_ hurt afterwards. She wondered what the drummer looked like - _were they male or female?_

Cosima really hoped it was the latter, drummer girls were hard to come by and were _insanely_ hot. Knowing her luck though, she was probably duetting with, what Sarah would call, _'an absolute minger',_ a spotty teenage boy who probably sits in the dark all day doing nothing but sit on his fat ass playing the drums. Whilst Cosima didn't care what the drummer looked like, she did wish there was a hottie behind them cymbals.

The drummer and guitarist, in perfect synchrony, launched once again into the main melody, with Cosima adjusting her guitar part to the original and playing some higher notes, making full use of the whammy bar whilst Sarah's eyebrows raised.

_Cosima could certainly shred._

The drummer seemed quite impressed too, adding in extra cymbals whilst improvising like Cosima was.

Cosima did not know the curly haired blonde was sat at her drums, her curly hair bouncing as she pounded the drums with a big grin on her face, wondering who this person with very fast and talented fingers was.

"Woah!" The drummer shouted whilst she got back into the drum solo, her mouth open in excitement as she felt the pleasant ache of her feet and wrists as she pounded on the toms whilst the guitarist remained as responsive as ever.

" _Mon dieu!_ " The French drummer shouted as she added extra cymbals and Cosima could really tell how into this the drummer was. They were about to launch into another drum solo after the initial melody but the door to the practice room Cosima and Sarah were in began to knock and they stood feeling like Helena with her hand caught in the cookie jar as they prepared themselves for the serious noise-complaints they were about to receive.

"Dudes, as much as I loved that Wipe Out duet, I've been told to tell you guys to stop, manager's orders." Hellwizard said with a hint of sadness. "But that was like one of the best things I've ever heard. My ears feel blessed after that."

"Mine too, although they're ringing a bit." Cosima smiled awkwardly.

"Do you know who the drummer is?" Hellwizard asked in astonishment whilst Sarah sat with a big fat grin on her face.

"No, no idea." Cosima blushed as she thought of how talented the drummer was.

"Well, I'm gonna need to get back to the cash register, but Cosima, that was insane. You really need to meet this drummer properly." Hellwizard smiled and he left the room.

"He's right Cos, don't wimp out."

"Don't be a bitch Sarah." Cosima replied, feeling a bit irritated and sad the duet had to end so abruptly. The two left the practice room and while they did, the door next to the one they were coming out of also opened and Cosima stood still, waiting to see the drummer she had been catching the waves with. She could not believe her eyes when a tall curly haired blonde came out from the door, stood in a white tank top and black jeans, drumsticks in each hand.

Cosima's breath caught at the sight of the blonde beauty, and the blonde girl's eyes lit up when she saw the incredible guitarist she had been duetting with. It's like the gorgeous drummer was inside her body, playing even more fills and solos on her heart.

"Wow, you're-"

"Yeah, I'm the girl you've been duetting with for the past 5 minutes." Cosima grinned whilst she had the guitar strapped to her body, her heart beating as fast as the beautiful stranger’s toms in the solos before.

"Your playing is incroyable." The French woman beamed and Cosima's eyebrows extended upward even further.

_This woman was hot, a drummer, and she's French? Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming._

Cosima looked around to see where Sarah went but she vanished.

"Thank you, but you had killer solos." Cosima grinned and found her eyes raking down the drummer’s body. Her arms looked very toned, probably still feeling the work out from them beats before. "You kept the beat very well and you're so fast."

"Merci beaucoup, although your guitar solo and improvisation was very pleasing." Delphine blushed as she tried to twirl the drumsticks in her hands but failed. Her palms were becoming quite sweaty, much warmer than when she was playing that high-octane song.

"I noticed the extra cymbals you added. It sounded really awesome." Cosima fluttered her eyelashes slowly and also felt a blush spreading to her cheeks, standing there like an idiot totally gushing over the French blonde.

"We must jam together again and soon. I cannot believe how in sync we were." Delphine admitted and Cosima's head nodded very fast, and Delphine reckoned she looked like a cross between a cute little puppy and a bobblehead. Delphine's head bobbed like that when she focused on the girl's guitar solo.

"I totally agree. My whole body is ready. Except for my fingers, maybe." Cosima winked and couldn't believe how sexual that sounded and how weird she probably sounded at the moment. Delphine stared at Cosima, a cheeky grin on her face and very red cheeks. "I bet they don't hurt as much as your wrists and your kick-drum foot." Cosima tried to change the focus off from her whilst Delphine tried to show off by twirling a stick in the air and almost hitting herself in the face. "Or maybe your face. Nearly." Cosima showed a toothy grin whilst Delphine felt so embarrassed she just wanted to be sucked into a black hole but also really wanted to spend time with the charming dreadlocked rocker.

"Hey Cos, what do you think of this? It's probably shite but The Clash play similar and it's in my price range." Sarah walked back over at what Cosima thought was a very inconvenient time holding a black telecaster. "Oh hello there, you're the drummer Cos was playing with." Sarah smirked at the good-looking blonde, and gave a knowing glance to Cosima who wished Sarah would just buzz off somewhere else for a while.

"Your name is Cos? And, allo." The French woman smiled pleasantly at Sarah who wiggled her eyebrows in response rather creepily and was enjoying having a good ogle at the blonde.

"Sarah if you don't like it you can mod it, like if you can't I'm sure MK won't mind improving the hardware and changing the pickups for you." Cosima tried to get Sarah to go away as quickly as possible and to stop her from staring at the drummer weirdly.

" _You can't polish a turd, Cosima._ Anyways, nice seeing you, but I need to pay for this." Sarah gestured to Cosima, suggesting she should hurry up so they could leave. Cosima cringed at Sarah's overall vulgarness whilst Delphine stood there with an amused smile on her face. _Why Sarah needed her to hold her hand at the cash register she didn't know._ _Bitch._

"So, Cosima." Delphine smiled whilst she tried out Cosima's name. _It sounded right._ "I should let you deal with some business with your friend, but before I go, I must do this." Delphine pulled out a pen from her pocket and began to write her phone number along Cosima's arm. "I would like to play with you again, on repeated occasions if possible." Delphine smiled whilst she looked at Cosima, who felt so blown away she was in the stratosphere, orbiting around the beautiful French blonde.

Cosima wondered what her name was. _Was it something basic, like Sue, or something more French like Emile or Amelie?_

"I'm Delphine." The French woman purred, reading her mind as she looked up into Cosima's eyes. "Enchantee." 

"Enchantee." Cosima replied, feeling like everything was going in slow-motion. She watched Delphine slowly walk away from her, not before doing the flirty over the shoulder look, and Cosima felt like a blubbering mess when Delphine gave her a cheeky wink and a wave. _Okay Cosima, cool down man_.

She stood in the corridor for a while, smiling and fanning herself whilst leaning against the wall and trying to make her knees feel less weak.

"Cosima are you going to get your silly arse over here or not?!" Sarah shouted which brought Cosima out of her daze and she followed Sarah to the cash register.

"That'll be $250 please." Hellwizard said and Sarah groaned as she fished out her bank card.

"Do you think Beth will let me borrow some money off her again? I'm gonna be living off baked beans at this rate." Sarah always liked to complain she was poor and had no money but she had it really easy, Mrs S practically paid for nearly everything at the house and she had a big stash of cash for some sketchy reason even though all she did was bird watch at Shite Beach and do crosswords with Kendall.

"Not when you nearly maxed out her credit card last time." Cosima rolled her eyes and Sarah huffed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes a loan shark." Sarah _really_ liked spending other people's money. "I think we'd _all know_ who'd win the fight down the dark alleyway."Sarah grinned.

"Yeah, Beth would whoop your ass." Cosima adjusted her glasses and had to stop for a second when she caught a smell of really nice perfume. It only turned out the delightful drummer had wafted past her, leaving Cosima in a flowery daze. Cosima's eyes followed Delphine as she was about to walk out the door, not before taking a look at Cosima, who stood with her mouth open, and smiled before leaving.

"Cosima you done catching flies yet. I've got an axe that needs shreddin'." Sarah tapped Cosima on the shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, sure, let's go." Cosima shook her head out of staring at the door where Delphine once was and she and Sarah walked out of the music shop, with Cosima thanking her lucky stars for Sarah actually not being a tightwad for once and spending some cash so she could meet some total _future-wife_ material.


	2. All That Jazz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah, Beth and Cosima go out for a quiet drink at Bobby's bar but get more than they bargained for when they see the band that's playing.

"Police, put your hands up!"

"Beth, it was funny the first few times but it's getting old now." Sarah sighed and Cosima laughed as Beth came running in dramatically, holding her new detective badge. She's been doing that ever since she got a promotion a few weeks ago, much to Sarah's annoyance and Cosima's amusement. Beth was really happy it was Friday and it was the weekend and she wanted to celebrate in style. 

"God sake Beth! You scared me there!" Bobby shouted behind the bar and Beth strolled over, taking a stool next to Sarah with a big smirk on her face.

"Can I have a beer please Bobby?" Beth laughed, her fangs glinting as she tried to charm Bobby to give her a free beer, once again flashing her shiny badge.

"Nice try Beth, but you got promoted 2 weeks ago."

Bobby wiped some glasses with a towel with a smile and Sarah laughed in Beth's face. "You wouldn't be scared if there weren't any illegal activities going on here." Beth winked and Bobby rolled her eyes.

"One beer coming up." Bobby smirked as she sauntered off to serve Beth.

"You know Alison wouldn't like you flirting with Bobby." Cosima giggled. Beth shook her head.

"I'm not flirting Cosima, I'm just trying to get a free drink. And Alison won't care anyway until she finally gets her head out of her ass and realizes who's been there for her all along." Beth smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes as Bobby handed her a bottle of beer. Cosima took a long look at Beth. She really wished the two would get their heads out of their asses and just admit that they like each other, but Cosima couldn't talk.

Cosima had saved the hot drummer, Delphine's phone number in her phone and really struggled with what to say to her. Sarah had told her to ignore her for a bit so it doesn't look desperate, and 'treat her mean to keep her keen' but then again she was dealing with Rachel Duncan so Sarah's opinion would be a little bit biased. Scott, on the other hand, suggested sending 'can I sequence your genome' and Cosima didn't really know which suggestion was worse.

"Hey Cosima, have you heard anything from that hot French drummer of yours?" Beth asked, bringing Cosima out of her daze. Sarah took a big swig out of her beer and answered for her.

"No, she's hasn't even got the balls to text her." Sarah grunted and Cosima looked down in embarrassment.

"What the fuck Cosima! I thought you knew what to say to the ladies!" Beth couldn't believe Cosima hadn't got the drummer into bed yet like she did with all of her other toys.

"This is different, Beth." Cosima adjusted her glasses, avoiding all eye contact. With other girls, Cosima felt really confident and would happily wine and dine them and take them to bed on the first date, but with Delphine, things felt different. Cosima didn't want to come off as dorky or lame with Delphine, she really wanted to impress her. Sarah told her she already has and told her to stop titting around because she gave out her phone number for a reason.

Cosima didn't really like relationships, just liking a bit of fun with different people. The last time she had a serious relationship, the girl she was with sang in a band and while Cosima really liked Delphine when she first met her and got a really good feeling just being around her, she couldn't help but feel like it was a curse - that being with anyone in another band was a massive curse. There were warning signs flashing above Delphine's head, danger ahead signs most likely, and Cosima really didn't want to give her 110% to get nothing in return, just like the last one. She really didn’t want her heart broken again.

Cosima looked at Sarah and thought of her and Rachel's relationship. Fair enough it was a bit weird, well, _very weird,_ they still looked like they were having a good time. Cosima wishes she could have something like that with Delphine, well, something not as _borderline-psychotic_ and actually _quite worrying_ , but something where they could have a bit of fun without feeling the need to lose their heads and slowly kill each other in the process like most relationships were.

"Earth to Cos?" Sarah waved her hand in front of Cosima's face as Cosima stared blankly in the distance.

"Cosssssssss." Beth began to join in, waving her hands in Cosima's face until Cosima swatted them away.

"Can you please respect my personal space?" Cosima nearly lost it, feeling on edge. She didn’t know why she felt so narky and stressed right now.

"Sorry Cos, didn't think you were one for 'personal space', what with frolicking around with Shay and god knows who else." Sarah laughed while taking a sip of her beer.

That was yet another obstacle Cosima faced, Shay. Cosima thought Shay was a lovely girl, don't get her wrong, but she couldn't help but feel like she was a little bit clingy. Cosima loved it when Shay turned up to some of her gigs to cheer her on but didn't really like it when Shay would just invite herself out with Cosima to have drinks with Sarah and Beth. Cosima had quite a lot of inappropriate inside jokes with Sarah and Beth which Shay just didn't understand and it often got a bit awkward at times. There's been other times where she's let herself into Cosima's apartment, laying on her bed leaving very little to the imagination (although that was _quite pleasant,_ Cosima thought as she smiled) turned up at Scott's house asking where she was, one time even stood on Alison's doorstep at 1AM asking where Cosima was (that didn't go down very well) She felt Shay was a good friend ( _and a great lay_ ) but didn't want to jump into anything hence being friends with benefits. Beth and Sarah both liked to laugh and joke that Shay was some kind of psycho-stalker and that she really deep into Cosima more than originally thought but Cosima just tried to ignore their words.

Cosima hadn’t seen Shay all week and purposely avoided her calls and stayed with Scott or went to Mrs S’ for tea. She felt really bad about it but after going to the music shop with Sarah and meeting the gorgeous, beautiful, heart-stopping, drum-beating beauty called Delphine, Cosima felt guilty if she were to mess around with Shay. She didn’t want to lead Shay on as she could feel her heart-strings being plucked by Delphine, but didn’t really want to end it with Shay either as she has no idea what Delphine’s intentions were (other than to jam.) At the same time though, Cosima felt like she should just stick to playing what she knows, what she’s always known, and that’s been having fun without falling, as Sarah would say ‘arse over tit’ in love. In terms of Delphine, they could always play it by ear and see how it goes. She didn’t really want to stand on the rooftops and profess her crush on Delphine yet. She had no idea which way she swings, whether she even likes girls. Plus, she had no idea what to say and could almost feel her hands feel clammy at the mere mention of messaging Delphine.

Cosima sighed as she thought of Delphine and uncharacteristically took a massive drink out of her wine, nearly downing it in one. She really needed the liquid courage if she was going to sack up and talk to her. Also, she didn’t think that she could handle Sarah and Beth’s annoying, drunk banter if she was semi-sober.

"Woah, steady on Cos. You nearly morphed into Alison then!" Sarah joked but Cosima just rolled her eyes at her, not in the mood for jokes or anything really. All she wanted to do was just play lame board games with Scotty or play on her video games with him. At least when she was pissed off, Scott kept his mouth shut and instead talked about nerdy stuff, rather than Sarah and Beth, who constantly talked about boobs, Rachel, Alison, their boobs and Shay all the time.

"Hey Cosima, sorry." Beth sighed, patting Cosima's shoulder. She was a bit more compassionate than Sarah sometimes, whose jokes can sometimes go a bit too far.

"It's okay Beth. It's just me. I feel, like a bit of an ass." Cosima sighed, wine glass in her hand. _She really did feel like Alison right now._ She felt like an ass for ignoring Shay and Delphine at the same time. _Why? Girls never usually had this effect on her._

"I'm a bit of an ass too." Beth smiled, trying to cheer Cosima up. Cosima smiled at Beth. Beth, somehow, knew how to make everything feel alright and make her feel like she wasn’t alone. "At least you're not Sarah."

"Ya wha-"

"How's the dragon taming going, Sarah?" Beth smirked as she focused the attention towards Sarah and Cosima felt a wave of relief.

"You mean in Skyrim or in real life?"

"Real life, I was referring to Rachel Duncan specifically." Cosima began to giggle and Sarah rolled her eyes. Sarah wished Beth wouldn’t bring one of her favourite games into the Rachel Duncan topic. Now she’s going to think of her whenever she slays a Frost Dragon. _How ironic_.

"Oh, HER. Yeah, let's not." Sarah called Bobby over for another beer, still not finishing the beer she's on, trying to look busy and avoid the conversation. Cosima and Beth smirked at each other and watched Sarah awkwardly trace her beer bottle with her hands before she looked over at the two. " _What?"_

"Nothing, just wondering how your girlfriend is doing." Cosima smiled.

"She's not my girlfriend, an' I haven't heard from her for the last week."

"That's odd." Beth frowned. Usually, Sarah would be boasting about how many booty calls she's received that week.

"Yeah it is a bit. Fuck knows what she's doing or where she is." Sarah said like she didn't care but she did, as she sat pursing her lips, her fingers tapping on the bar anxiously. "I don't give a shite. She's got a stupid haircut anyway." Sarah took a big gulp of her beer and another out of the beer Bobby just placed down on the bar.

"Does she not tell you what she's been up to through the week?" Beth questioned Sarah, actually curious as to what their relationship really is.

"No, I know fuck all. She either texts me come over or I'm outside or some creepy shit like that." Sarah tried to laugh about it but you could tell she felt really insecure about it. She really didn't like to show her feelings. Sarah wished for more instead of being treated like a toy and thrown away when Rachel wasn’t interested. Sarah liked to bitch about Rachel, mocking her haircut, her clothes, her posh high heels, but deep down, Sarah really liked all these things about her and found her really nice to look at. But saying that out loud wouldn’t be very ‘punk rock’, so she usually just mocked her as it was a reason to talk about her (and think about her.)

"That's a bit weird." Beth looked over to Sarah, feeling confused as to what Rachel's game was. Well, she knew what her game was, but not why she would randomly drop Sarah after spending quite a lot of time with her recently.

"At least I'm not you though." Sarah groaned.

"Why?" Beth knew Sarah would soon flip it on her and anticipated her answer.

"At least I'm not too stuck deep inside the friend-zone for her not to give a shite." Beth stood there and looked down, her face completely changing in less than a second. Beth knew Sarah was telling the truth, but it hurt being told out loud and by another person.

"At least she cares about me." Beth blushed and Cosima felt really bad for Beth.

"Whatever Beth. Maybe you care about her more than she cares for you. You'd drop everything just to run to her but would she drop it all for you?" Sarah scoffed drunkenly whilst Beth stood in silence, feeling the burn from Sarah's harsh but brutally honest words.

 

_And Cosima thought these two had it easier than her when it comes to relationships._

 

"I guess we're all fucked with women in one way or another." Cosima smiled and tried to make light of the situation, looking to Sarah and Beth, whose faces began to lighten up a little bit. Sarah's head slowly rose from where it was nearly planted against the bar and Beth turned to Cosima and smiled.

"You're right Cosima. From now on, we should just focus on ourselves."

"Yeah, let’s all be lone wolves." Sarah rose her beer up. "Let's be more Helena."

"More Helena!" The three rose their glasses up and took a drink.

"I swear I'm not going back to Rachel again." Sarah sighed, rubbing her forehead. "And _you, Beth_ , shouldn't go running to Alison when her arse needs wiping." Sarah pointed at Beth. 

"Yes sir." Beth said a bit drunkenly and clinked glasses with Sarah and Cosima.

"An' Cos for god's sake _change the bloody locks_!" Sarah shouted and the trio laughed before taking a big drink, clearly on the way to getting wasted.

"Sarah please, cool it down," Bobby smirked whilst dealing with other customers. "We don't want to have to make you leave early again."

The last time Sarah was kicked out was karaoke night, where she did a very loud and very out-of-tune cover of Paper Planes by MIA, singing to Beth and swinging her bottle of beer around whilst singing ‘All I wanna do is’, then even making the gunshot sounds and cash register noises before she drunkenly spluttered ‘take your money!’ Mrs S and Beth had to drag her out of the bar, whilst Helena dragged her away and a game of tug of war had begun.

"Alright then Bobby, I'll be on good behaviour now." Sarah smiled, her head swaying as she spoke. Bobby rolled her eyes at Sarah, a small smirk on her lips. She and Sarah knew she didn’t have the heart to ban her.

"Hey Bobby, is there any band on tonight?" Beth swayed, not as drunk as Sarah but nearly there.

"Yeah, they're due to come on in 5 minutes actually." Bobby smiled as she checked her watch.

"What music do they play?" Beth asked with interest.

"Jazz."

"Ha, that's me not giving a shite then!" Sarah half-shouted half-laughed.

"Hey Sarah, maybe we could learn a few things from them." Beth was more accepting of the different musical genres and didn't mind jazz.

"Shut up smart-arse, just ‘cos you can read music and understand the silly shite they're playing."

"You're just butt-hurt you can't do what they do Sarah." Cosima laughed.

Jazz bands usually had accomplished musicians, jazz is by no means not an easy style music to play in, with weird chords, time signatures, and many different instruments to accompany and keep in time with. The tempo often changed very fast unlike rock, where it most often keeps the same beat throughout the whole thing. Sarah really struggled to play jazzy chords on the guitar, her fingers wrecking if Cosima tried to get her to play a seventh chord most commonly used in jazz, hence Sarah's hatred of all things jazz and _all that jazz._

"Shut up Cos, I prefer not fannying around when I play and gettin' straight to the point." Sarah spat drunkenly.

"Whatever. Hey Beth how's Mika?" A big smirk appeared on Beth’s face as Cosima asked.

"Oh she's good, probably doing the best of all of us. She's at the house watching a movie with Krystal at the moment." Beth placed her hands on the bar and grinned, really glad that MK faced up to her fear and invited Krystal over. Sarah randomly started laughing.

"Bloody Krystal? Really?"

"Sarah I told you last week I think they're into each other."

"That's cute, they've probably got the best relationship of all of us." Cosima laughed but felt glad Mika was getting the love she deserved.

"I'm making myself scarce tonight, I was gonna go to.......scrap that." Beth shook her head, thinking she was going to go to Alison's but she sacked off the idea. They were watching horror movies, and Beth replaced all of the movies in the house with scary clown movies including the new ‘IT’ movie as Mika learned Krystal had an immense fear of clowns. They probably wouldn’t watch them but Beth just wanted to be a good wingwoman and didn’t want to intrude on their privacy, whilst pushing Mika to do what she always wanted.

"You can stay at mine if you need to Beth."

"Or S'."

"Thanks, guys."

"I think Felix is around having drinks with her anyway." Beth smiled. At least she wasn't on her own.

"Helena's probably eatin' all the Monopoly money at home." Sarah said nonchalantly whilst Beth and Cosima laughed. "Or she's losing it over a game of bop-it." The girls laughed and the lights suddenly began to dim, the lights becoming brighter at the stage. "Hah, oh bloody hell here we go." Sarah laughed to herself, pointing at the stage from the bar and turning around on her seat to face the stage.

"And I thought you weren't bothered, Sarah?"

"Shut up Beth, I just want to see who these ugly munters are." A small crowd near the front of the stage began to clap and make some noise. On the stage came walking a guy with black glasses and a black suit who smugly walked carrying a trumpet. "He has a face like a squashed grape." Sarah commented as he walked over, winking at the crowd.

"Sarah how can you tell, we're quite far away." Cosima briefly wiped her glasses and squinted at the stage. A woman walked out in a black dress, walking to the double bass.

"She clearly wants to shag herself." Sarah scoffed as the woman sauntered onto the stage, smiling smugly. "This band isn't giving me much hope." Another guy walked into the stage, in a tight t-shirt, waving as he walked to play the guitar. "He clearly loves himself as well. Bet he only plays guitar to get the girls, what an idiot." Sarah's comments made Beth and Cosima crack up as she lingered on his toned arms. "I bet he wanks off to himself in the mirror."

"Ew Sarah."

"Wannabe bodybuilder. What a fuckin' knobhead. I've seen enough." Sarah turned back to the bar taking another drink of her beer, showing no interest in what the band had to offer. What she didn't see was a woman wearing a very tight white dress and black high heels saunter to the microphone stand, actually not doing karaoke in front of it like she usually does.

"Holy shit!" Beth covered her mouth in shock whilst Cosima couldn't stop laughing.

"Sarah you gotta see this."

"Fuck off Cos I'm not interested." Another member walked onto the stage, drumsticks in her hands and Cosima nearly dropped her wine glass on the floor.

 

_Oh fuck, it's Delphine._

 

Cosima sat wide-eyed in shock, not expecting to see Delphine walk out on the stage in all of long-legged glory, her curls bouncing as she walked with a genuine smile unlike a smug grin like all of the other members. Delphine took her seat at the drum kit, waving to the crowd and Cosima honestly felt like she was waving at her even though she was miles away from the stage and she wouldn't see her in the light. _Great,_ Cosima thought. _Now I feel guiltier than ever._

Beth looked at Cosima curiously wondering why she had her mouth open for nearly a minute.

"Hello everyone, we are The Neo Notes." Rachel Duncan smirked as she stood behind the microphone stand, looking out at the audience. The lights began to flicker on again and Rachel could see as far as the bar. Sarah turned around at the sound of Rachel's voice and sat mouth agape.

 

_Oh shite, it’s Rachel._

 

Sarah and Cosima were both sat there, both looking like they had seen a ghost and Beth had no idea why Cosima looked so spooked and muffled her giggles with her hands whilst looking at her friends.

"I am Rachel, this is Ferdinand." Rachel gestured to the guy on the trumpet, and Sarah hated his guts instantly because he totally checked out Rachel's arse when she wasn't looking. "This is Paul." Paul stood with his guitar and waved and Sarah hated him too. "Marion over there on the double bass." Marion waved at the crowd enthusiastically and Sarah felt like throwing her bottle at her. "And this is Delphine on the drums." Delphine waved at the audience and could see 3 figures sat at the bar with one of them who looked quite familiar. She squinted and made out the one in the middle was Cosima. Delphine sat up and waved her drumsticks in the air at Cosima, who just sat on her seat, as still as a statue.

 _I can’t believe she’s here!_  Cosima and Sarah thought.

"We hope you enjoy the show." Rachel smiled which was really out of character and they launched into a cover of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, with Ferdinand kicking off and the drums, bass, and guitar soon following suit whilst Rachel slowly moved to the music, holding onto the mic stand.

"This day just keeps on getting better." Beth smirked to herself before nearly collapsing in laughter and looked at Sarah and Cosima's wonky facial expressions.

"This is not cool." Sarah said, instantly feeling like she had sobered up and all the magic was gone.

"Shut up Sarah, you like musicians. I bet you're loving this."

"I'm not." Sarah growled as she watched Rachel look to Ferdinand whilst he played his trumpet obnoxiously, making stupid idiot faces and jiggling around like Helena when she's on jello.

Rachel smirked as she was on stage, clearly enjoying herself, especially more so when she spotted Sarah with a confused expression on her face at the bar. Rachel knew that she'd be in Bobby's tonight and wanted to play to her, to impress her. Sarah saw it differently though. She felt Rachel was trying to prove she was better at music than her and was trying to make her look and feel like a _tit_ in front of all of her friends. But part of Sarah felt jealous that the other people were on stage with her and she wasn’t.

_I bet Delphine had a good view, best seat in the house._

"So _this_ is what she's been up to in her spare time." Sarah scowled as she looked at the stage, watching the band members play their instruments obnoxiously. "Playing with these muppets."

"I can't believe Delphine is here. I can't believe she's playing with Delphine." Cosima took her glasses off and put them back on again, not believing her eyes.

"Yeah, that's deffo Delphine alright." Sarah took a good look at the drummer but her eyes darted back to Rachel who sang down the microphone. _So not a hologram then._

 

_'He's in the army now, blowin' reveille. He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company B!'_

 

"Fuck man." Cosima thought she needed stronger glasses but Delphine was actually there, and she felt terrible for not sending her any messages.

"I can't believe this." Sarah was 1000% done.

_So this is what she was doing all this time? Why? Trying to rub it in her face?_

"She's gone against everything I like, and stand for."

"What?" Beth laughed.

"She's not playing rock. This is really pissin' me off."

"I think what's pissing you off is that she'd rather play with randomers than getting jiggy with you Sarah." Beth smirked.

Sarah shot daggers at Rachel, who would look towards the bar and then stand dangerously close to Ferdinand, almost like she was singing at him, before looking to the bar to see if Sarah and her misfit friends were watching.

"I wouldn't laugh Beth, I'm half expecting Alison to walk out any minute." Sarah said.  _For the love of God, **NOT THE KORG.**_

"Props to the guy on trumpet, that shit is hard." Beth said, turning the focus away from Alison and getting on Sarah’s nerves as she knew Ferdinand was lapping up the attention from Rachel, sensing his covered smile behind his trumpet.

"Fuck off Beth, he's the most annoying of all of them." Sarah scoffed as she watched Ferdinand make some really stupid faces as he played trumpet and eyed Rachel.

_No one looks at Rachel._

"He deserves a slap." Sarah commented as she sipped her beer.

"She's got a pretty good voice." Beth smirked but Cosima could only focus on the drummer, who was smiling away behind the hi-hats, her swing beat fitting into the performance naturally. Sarah frowned and pouted, she didn't like Rachel getting attention.

"I think she's doing this to get back at me." Sarah sighed as Rachel strutted around the stage, and Sarah's eyes followed her arse as she walked up to Marion on the bass and smiled smugly, looking straight at Sarah. Rachel sang the last few lines and there was a big jazz ending, with Delphine tapping away at the cymbals as the audience clapped.

"Thanks, everyone." Rachel smiled, not taking her eyes away from the bar. "Our next song is called Hit The Road Jack. It is quite relatable." The drums kicked in and the double bass began to boom whilst Paul played some seventh chords and Sarah rolled her eyes.

 

_Hit the road Jack, and don't you come back! No more no more no more no more!_

 

As the song continued, Beth's amused expression continued.

 

_Don’t care if you do ‘cause it’s understood, you ain’t got no money you just no good!_

 

"Yeah, she's getting back at you alright." Beth said with a grin as Rachel was practically grinding against the microphone, and Delphine shot Cosima an awkward smile. Sarah felt very offended. She came out to have a good time and she honestly felt so attacked right now. She knew Rachel was singing at her, making her want to spiral herself down into a non-existent vortex because Sarah didn’t really have any money and just snatched Beth’s and didn’t have a job either.

 

 _‘Well I guess if you say so’_ Paul sang. _‘I’ll have to pack my things and go'_

 _‘That’s right!’_ Rachel pointed at Sarah whilst she launched into yet another chorus and Sarah felt like it would never end.

 

The song soon finished (much to Sarah's delight) and she began asking how long the set lasted, and Bobby wished she would shut up as she had no idea.

"This next song is _very_ special to me." Rachel said as she adjusted the microphone stand. "I want to dedicate this to someone I know quite well." The seductive drum beat kicked in, with Delphine getting into the groove and the double bass trickled in. Ferdinand now had picked up a saxophone and Paul was lightly strumming chords to the mellow beat.

 

 _‘I put a spell on you.’_ Rachel sang in a deep sultry voice and pointed at the bar Sarah was sat at. _‘Because you're mine.’_

 

Sarah sat there in shock,  as Rachel hit all the right notes and she felt it hit all the right places in her body.

 

_‘You better stop the things you do I tell ya. I ain't lyin'. I ain't lyin'._

 

"I wonder if this is the Nina Simone version or the Annie Lennox version.” Beth said randomly.

"It doesn’t bloody matter what version it is! It’s still the same song and it’s still awful." Sarah sighed as she had her head in her hands, covering her blushing face.

"I think she likes it.” Beth smirked whilst she and Cosima shared a look.

 

_'You know I can't stand it. You runnin' around. You know better daddy I can't stand it,  'cause you put me down! Oh no_

_Oh no'_

 

 

Beth’s eyebrows raised when Rachel sang ‘daddy’ and Sarah wanted the ground to just come and swallow her up.

"Ah, so this IS the Annie Lennox version."

"Shut the fuck up Beth." Sarah replied.

"It’s off the Fifty Shades album." Beth grinned. "Has Rachel got a hidden dungeon in her apartment?"

Sarah wondered to herself why Rachel _didn’t_ have a secret dungeon, considering all the money she has.

"No. You’d know all about _THAT_   kind of stuff though wouldn’t you, Beth?"

"What do you mean, Sarah?"

"You and Alison. In the craft room."

" _In my dreams,_ Sarah." Beth laughed and shook her head whilst Cosima was still transfixed on Delphine. "She made me watch the movie with her, that’s it."

"I bet that was hella awkward." Cosima stated as she finally let her eyes move away from the drum kit on the stage.

"Yeah, it was. Quite a lot. It certainly was for me anyway."

"Alison’s no saint, Beth."

"Neither is Rachel, Sarah."

 

_'I love you I love you anyhow, and I don't care if you don't want me I'm yours right now!'_

 

"Dude I don't get it, one minute she's angry at you then the next she's trying to seduce you." Cosima frowned but still stared at Delphine, who continued to make eye contact and Cosima felt chills all over.

"Yeah that's usually how it goes Cos, it's at the same time though when I'm around." Cosima's eyebrows raised and she caught onto what Sarah was saying, her mouth slamming shut.

"Her mood swings must be out of control." Beth commented as she was staring at Rachel with her leg snaked around the microphone stand, the microphone very close to her lips.

"That's not very hygienic." Sarah scoffed as she watched the girl with a mind like a yo-yo press her lips onto the microphone, seductively breathing through her nose. "I hope she's brought her own."

" _Fuck off Sarah,_ I bet you'll steal the mic once she's done with it and take it to bed with you." Beth laughed.

"I'll be singing with that the next time we gig!" Sarah groaned. The song soon finished and The Neo Notes moved onto other songs, such as Fever, a song which really shown off Rachel’s lower range, and a jazz version of Toxic which Beth could not stop laughing at, causing Sarah to give her a slap in which she nearly fell off her bar stool.

 

_'With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride_

_You're toxic,_

_I'm slippin' under_

_With a taste of a poison paradise,_

_I'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic?!'_

 

Rachel sang and pointed once again at the bar and Sarah blushed really awkwardly. She couldn’t fault Rachel’s voice and song choices, this song was pretty relatable to the two of them. Rachel often made Sarah feel like a piece of toxic waste/trash but at least this song was calling her trash in a _good_ way.

Rachel sang other fan favourites such as Dream A Little Dream of Me, which Sarah continually rolled her eyes at.

 

_Trust Rachel for choosing all the corny songs._

 

They also did a cover of Diamond's Are A Girl's Best Friend (very apt for Rachel) and Be My Baby, in which Rachel could not keep her eyes away from the bar.

 

_'The night we met I knew I needed you so_

_And if I had the chance I'd never let you go '_   

 

 _Why did ya then?_ Sarah shook her head at a singing, smiling Rachel.

 

_'So won't you say you love me? I'll make you so proud of me. We'll make 'em turn their heads every place we go!_

_We'll make 'em turn their heads every place we go!'_

 

Beth and Cosima giddily sang along to the chorus in Sarah’s face and Sarah wishes she brought along Helena’s boxing gloves as she really felt like smacking the two in the face.

 

_'I'll make you happy, baby, just wait and see_

_For every kiss you give me I'll give you three.'_

 

 _Wrong_ , yet again, Sarah thought.  _She was only beginning to let me touch her let alone kiss her?_

Sarah really didn't understand why Rachel was being like this. All Cosima knew was that Delphine killed it in every single performance, throwing in little fills here and there whenever she looked and saw Cosima was watching and often banging louder and crashing cymbals as part of improvising whilst Cosima had her back turned, getting another drink in for Sarah who was still cursing under her breath.

“Our next song is our drummer’s personal favourite.” Rachel smirked and looked over her shoulder at Delphine, who held her sticks up in the air and counted them in.

 

_'And they called it puppy love_

_Oh I guess they'll never know_

_How a young heart really feels_

_And why I love her so'_

 

Beth and Sarah began to laugh whilst Cosima blushed to herself.

“Puppy love? Is she havin’ a laugh?” Sarah frowned at Cosima and stared at Delphine who was blushing behind the drum kit. Cosima had no idea why they were playing Puppy Love of all songs but couldn’t describe the feeling inside her when she looked up and saw Delphine staring at her with a small grin on her face, her eyebrows raising. Delphine mouthed ‘like this?’ to Cosima and Cosima didn’t understand what she was trying to say, motioning that she couldn’t hear whilst giggling. Delphine just shook her head with a smile, her multi-tasking skills clearly exceptional as she somehow played the soft beat whilst never moving her eyes away from Cosima, who was still sat gazing at the bar.

“Cos, you still here?” Beth asked.

“Maybe she should have gone bird-watching with S at Shite Beach.” Sarah smirked as she watched Cosima’s heart eyes behind her black specs.

“Bird watching?” Beth giggled. “But she’s already bird watching!” Beth pointed to Delphine behind the drums.

“You stupid goon, that’s what I was getting at anyway. She’s watching the tits as they play on stage!” Not interested in listening to Sarah and Beth’s annoying banter about the band and Delphine, Cosima got up from the bar to walk to the bathroom and stopped in her tracks when she heard an angry, thumping mini-fill that made the floor vibrate and the walls almost close in.

She took a look over her shoulder and saw Delphine's staring eyes on her, her drumsticks reverberating from the toms and flicking to the cymbals, the drum-kit crashing loud and making a lot of noise, overpowering the other instruments.

Cosima stood and smiled at Delphine who smiled back and mellowed for the rest of the song after receiving confused looks from her bandmates and the band soon took a break.

Cosima went to the bathroom and cooled herself down for a bit. She couldn't believe what was happening and had to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. _Not only was Delphine a hella-good drummer, but a hella-good JAZZ DRUMMER._ Cosima already felt intimidated by the musical blonde, but now she really felt like she could not play, she had nowhere near as knowledge as Delphine did and that scared Cosima. She wanted to impress her but now she really doesn't know how.

Cosima sighed as she walked out of the stall and jumped when she saw Delphine look at herself in the mirror.

"Allo, my buddy." Delphine smirked in the mirror and slowly turned around to Cosima.

"Hey, Delphine." Cosima waved awkwardly.

"Small world huh?"

"Oui, it is." Delphine smiled. Delphine continued to smile at Cosima, taking in her expression and looking her up and down, mentally appreciating Cosima's good looks.

"I uh, I'm sorry I haven't text you yet." Cosima rubbed her neck. "I really didn't know what to say and.....uh.....you kind of intimidate me."

"I intimidate you?" Delphine asked, intimidating Cosima even more.

"Not in a bad way?" Cosima frowned.

"In a cute way?" Delphine smiled with a wink and Cosima was sure she could hear At Last by Ella Fitzgerald play in the background but the band wasn't playing.

"I, yes." Cosima's cheeks went hot red. She could hear the violins yet there were no violin players. "You make me nervous, and that's probably because of how beautiful and talented you are."

"Cosima please, you make me nervous too." Delphine blushed hard and Cosima could feel the drums begin to crash and snare. "Did you not notice how hard I tried on the drums?" Delphine began to air-drum with a laugh whilst Cosima laughed, numbing the heartbeat in her ears.

"Yeah, especially when I was about to walk away." Cosima threw in a cheeky wink and Delphine blushed bright red, and Cosima swore she could hear the drum fill Delphine played AT her, FOR her, from before, filling its way through her body, crashing on her heart, whilst her heart-strings were being pulled agonizingly in a soul-crushing solo.

"I was trying to impress you." Delphine whispered and slowly moved closer to Cosima, and Cosima felt her breath hitch in her throat.

"Really?" Cosima felt her face move closer to Delphine’s, her hands anxiously rubbing together as she took a few steps closer.

"Yes." Delphine’s eyes kept moving to Cosima’s lips, and, seeing her hands become restless, she placed a finger on Cosima’s shoulder and slowly trailed it down the length of Cosima’s arm. Cosima felt goosebumps all over.

"Even with Puppy Love?" Cosima winked and Delphine lowered her head and blushed. Cosima giggled. "You’re the puppy!" Cosima shouted and Delphine laughed whilst subtly threading her fingers through Cosima’s hand. That was smooth, Delphine.

"Did somebody say puppies?" The door crashed open and Sarah ran in. Of course, Sarah wasn’t thinking about the same type of puppies Delphine and Cosima were talking about. Her eyes instantly flicked to their hands and a grin appeared on her face. Cosima and Delphine stood in the same position, and Cosima felt chills when she felt Delphine rubbing her thumb in small circles on her hand. Sarah continued to watch the two women, staring blankly at her and Cosima quirked a brow, mouthing ‘leave.’ Sarah just laughed to herself. _Look at these two, both stood like two tits in a trance._

“Well, Cosima.” Delphine smirked as she unraveled her hand and played with the collar of Cosima’s t-shirt. “You have seen me play. Next time, it will be your turn.” Cosima stood looking out of it while Sarah could feel the heavy sexual-tension in the air but wasn’t for moving, instead stood there, watching it unfold. “Text me. I do not bite, much.” Delphine stopped fiddling with Cosima’s collar and straightened it out, before winking. “Au revoir, ma cheri.” Delphine grinned as she whispered in Cosima’s ear, her hot breath on Cosima’s neck sending shockwaves throughout her whole body again and Delphine walked out of the bathroom, not giving Sarah much notice on the way out.

That was the _SECOND TIME_ Delphine made a dramatic exit, looking like a bond girl on the way out as she smiled to herself. Sarah stood, almost hearing the tumbleweed fly past her as Delphine paid her zero attention. She had to hand it to Cos, she was _very_ impressed. _That Delphine was very tidy._  If Sarah had seen her first she probably would’ve tried it on with her.

But she only has eyes for Cosima, quite literally.

As soon as the door shut, Sarah spoke. “What the fuck did I just walk in on?!” 

Cosima smiled lazily and blinked slowly, still stuck in her daze with her fingers touching the point she felt Delphine’s breath against her neck. “I don’t know.”

“Let’s get out of here. It feels like _sex_ in here and it’s making me uncomfortable.” Sarah grabbed and dragged a smiling Cosima out of there. If she walked in just after Delphine left, she would’ve thought Cosima was beginning to get high and was smoking some strong stuff.

The pair walked out and whilst on the way back to the bar they bumped into the notorious Rachel Duncan.

“Hello, Cosima.” Rachel looked to Cosima with a small pleasant smile. “And….Sarah.” Rachel’s voice became higher pitched like she was almost surprised to see Sarah there. “Fancy seeing….you here.”

“Fuck off Rachel, you’ve been singin’ at me for the past hour.” Sarah scoffed whilst rolling her eyes and folded her arms.

“Well, you are not wrong, Sarah Manning.” Rachel purred and Cosima felt like running into the bathroom as her eyes dashed between Rachel’s smirking face and Sarah’s grimace. Cosima could feel yet another staring contest beginning. _And Sarah said the bathroom felt like sex?_ The whole bar _reeks_ of it.

“Why are you doin’ this Rachel?” Sarah spoke up after an agonizing silence.

“I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.” Rachel replied, referring to Sarah and her band.

“You mean you wanted to show me up.”

Rachel grinned in response, blinking. Her pupils expanded. “You inspire me, Sarah.”

“Cut the crap, Rachel.” Sarah looked away dismissively, just as Rachel’s eyes began to darken. “You’re trying to make a point.”

“What point Sarah? That playing in a band makes me feel closer to you?” Rachel’s voice felt as soft as silk and that made Cosima and Sarah feel uncomfortable. “Where is your…….evidence.” Rachel whispered and felt herself become distracted as she slowly raked her eyes over Sarah’s figure. _All in leather_ , Rachel smirked. _Just what I like._

“You want to be better than me at something.” Sarah growled as she approached Rachel, their noses almost touching. “You want to be on top.”

“Believe me, Sarah, I want _nothing more_   than to be on top of you.” Rachel purred and Cosima felt like asking Bobby for a sick bucket.

“Let’s settle this then. You versus me.” Sarah squared up, her leather jacket feeling tight on her arms.

“But Sarah………” Rachel pretended to wipe the non-existent lint on Sarah’s leather jacket, fighting the urge to leave her mark on her. “It’s always been you versus me.”

“Are you not listenin’?!” Sarah squared up to face Rachel, their noses bumping together. “My band versus your band. Winner takes all.”

“And what does the winner win, Sarah?” Rachel smirked. “A pat on the back? A free drink? _Pride_?”

“If I win.” Sarah breathed. “I win _you_.”

“You win….. _me_?” Rachel frowned.

“Oh yeah, Rach.” Sarah grinned. “If I win, I take control of you.” 

“I will win Sarah. _No one_ takes control of me.” Rachel smirked.

“Oh yeah?” Sarah stared straight in her eyes. “I will _rock you_ like a hurricane.”

“Really?” Rachel’s eyes dashed to Sarah's lips. Cosima wished someone would kick the jukebox.

“You won’t be able to _walk_ afterward.” Rachel’s breath hitched in her throat, feeling the blush appear on her cheeks and the blood flow to her…… _that area_.

“Rachel, is everything okay? Delphine tapped her shoulder and Rachel jumped. Sarah began to smirk.

“Uhm, yes, Delphine.” Rachel stood back and smoothed out any creases on her dress, touching her hair. “We need to practice for next week, Delphine.”

“And why’s that?” Delphine smiled, her eyes lingering on Cosima who just stared worriedly back at her.

“We have a battle to prepare for.” Rachel turned to stare at Sarah and Sarah stared right back. Delphine looked worriedly at Cosima, and then finally realized.

 

_Merde, we are playing against each other?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the chapter. Have a good night folks :)


	3. Creative Differences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah prepares for battle, whilst Cosima has other ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick word to say a big thank you for the lovely comments you guys give. This chapter was a bit hard to write yet enjoyable, hope you like it.

The next day, Cosima sighed as she sat in the band's rehearsal room, basically Mrs S' garage. Sarah was stood in front of everyone with a massive whiteboard, writing complicated spiderwebs and 'battle plans'. Cosima really wished she could just go home, forget about everything, have a few Eskimo Pies and play World of Warcraft with Scott but now she was entangled in this mess that Sarah had brought her into, only to get one over on Rachel Duncan, of all people.

And Cosima wasn't just annoyed about that. No, she was annoyed about how life has a way of messing up possibly romantic relationships in her life, especially when the other person is in a band herself.

_If she could kick her own ass, she would._

She found it really ironic how the person who brought them together, on that fateful day at the music shop may now tear them apart after organising a serious battle of the bands at Bobby's Bar.  
She wished Sarah didn't just bring everyone else into her own shit, she has a real habit of doing that. 

"Are we even getting _paid_ for this?" Beth's hand shot up and Cosima was glad at least one other member had their doubts.

"I dunno, probably. If we win, yeah, I think Bobby could reach her hands in her pockets." Sarah turned to face Beth, who just sat frowning.

"Time is money, Sarah. I don't want to waste my time playing there for nothing."

"Yeah you say that but you'd probably play for nothing if it meant Alison was going to show up. Don't say things you'll regret Beth." Beth just ignored Sarah's dig and slowly shook her head.

"Sarah have you even organised this with Bobby? How we gonna get all of our gear there? What _NIGHT_ is it?!"

"Bloody hell Beth I'm in the process of organisin'! And Tony will help us take our stuff as always. I'm thinking it'll be next Saturday."

"What if I'm busy next Saturday?" Beth folded her arms, looking up at Sarah.

"But you never are, are you Beth?" Sarah smiled and Beth hated to admit she was true. Other than hanging around the diner with the band, visiting the arcades with MK or road trippin' in Sarah's car or Tony's van she didn't really do anything unless it was with these nerds.

"Mika, are you busy next Saturday?" Sarah asked MK, who was sat near the back, her hands in her pockets, being more quiet than usual.

"Uhhh......yes I actually am."

"Well, cancel your plans." Sarah turned back to the whiteboard, scribbling more illegible things.

"I don't want to." MK replied shyly, looking at the floor.

"Why's that? You got a date or something?" Sarah asked in surprise.

MK stared back at Sarah for a few moments and looked at the floor, and Beth turned around to face MK, giving her a thumbs up which made her smile.

"Oh shite, Mika's got a _date_!" Sarah didn't know whether to smile or frown. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"K...Krystal." MK looked up, smiling at everyone.

"This I like." Helena nodded at MK, who smiled in response.

"Me too, Helena." Beth smiled, turning to look at MK. "You two make a good couple."

"I totes agree. At least something IS going right in one of our relationships." Cosima joked, then gave Sarah a lingering glare.

"This bands battle is important Mika, would she mind if you rescheduled?" Sarah avoided Cosima's glare and instead looked at MK.

"I don't want to let her down Sarah." MK replied with a sigh. "We were really looking forward to it."

"Where are you going?" Cosima asked MK with interest.

"Ice skating." MK smiled. "Then maybe a go on the arcades."

"Have you had a go on her tits yet?" Sarah laughed and the whole room was silent. MK blushed, feeling embarrassed and avoided answering the question.

"Mika, I don't think Krystal would mind if you had to reschedule. I bet she'd love to see the band in action." Beth winked.

"Really?" MK replied, looking surprised.

"Yeah." Beth smirked. "She once told me that she really likes seeing you play. I'm sure Krystal will come along."

"Fingers crossed she doesn't throw anything weird at the stage." Sarah smirked.

"I'd throw something at you Sarah." Cosima laughed.

"Like wha'?"

"A piss bottle probably."

"Cos, _please_." Sarah sighed, a hand running through her hair. Sarah and the whole band knew that Cosima was angry about the battle of the bands, likely because they'd be playing against Delphine. Beth understood Cosima - she too would not want to battle if Alison was playing in the other band. Cosima was really bad at being competitive at the best of times and even thought about purposely screwing up her performance next week but she knew Sarah would never ever let it go. "We're all in this together okay? We can't stay mad at each other."

"I can." Cosima folded her arms, staring at the floor. "No offence Beth, Mika, Helena, but this is absolute _bullshit_."

"I agree Cosima, it's really stupid." Beth nodded her head. "Why we have to be brought into this shitshow is beyond me."

"Cos, Beth, please listen to me." Sarah sat down in one of Mrs S' rickety lawn chairs and sighed. "What was the point of making this band?"

"So that we could bag some hotties?" Cosima questioned.

"Well, yeah, but what else?"

"So that we could get filthy rich?" MK asked.

"I suppose that too, but why else?"

"So we could get free food and drink at the bar?" Helena piped up and Sarah felt like slamming everyone's heads against the garage door.

"Partly Helena, but that isn't the real reason. We made this band because we have everyone's back." Sarah smiled and tried to look for a sign of some acceptance in the band. "This is our sisterhood." Sarah continued to look around at the band, at Cosima who looked up then dejectedly looked down, Beth who sat staring at the floor, thinking about something, MK who hid behind everyone else and bit her nails and Helena who sat beaming at her twin as she always did.

"This is our purpose." Sarah smiled. "We're all better when we're together." Sarah pointed to the drum kit which had the band logo, one that Helena had made, of all the members joining hands, even including Tony, Felix and Alison. "I don't care if I have shite all to my name, no _bloody_ money, no women, no bread on the table," Beth and Cosima shared a glance, a small smile on their faces. "As long as I've got you nerds with me, I don't give a crap about anything." Sarah sighed.

"Look at Sarah getting all sentimental." Beth smirked.

"Shut up Beth." Sarah rolled her eyes. "What I'm sayin' is, you guys mean the bloody world to me and I hate falling out with you lot. I know I made a pretty shite decision and I shoulda asked everyone first, but what's done is done. Can we see the good in this, though?" Sarah tried to reach out to Cosima. She really thought that Cosima still has a chance with Delphine, an even bigger one now. "We might finally get recognised for doing what we love. Beth, I know you complain about getting crap money for it, but we're all doing what we love, playing music together and havin' a good time. And Cos, I'll bet good money that Delphine will still fancy you whether we thrash them or not in the battle." Sarah looked at Cosima and Cosima looked up at her, a small smile on her face. "Which we will of course."

"I'm sorry for being angry at you Sarah." Cosima sighed, rubbing her temples and hoping that what Sarah said about Delphine still liking her after this will be true. "I just don't wanna fuck things up with Delphine. I feel like there's a curse on me that any relationship I have with a girl in another band will just fail."

"I hardly think you'll fuck things up with Delphine." Sarah reassured Cosima. "You shoulda seen it from where I was standing in the bathroom, the heart eyes she was givin' you. The atmosphere felt electric."

"Like when _Sexy Rachel's_ around?" Helena looked up and smirked at Sarah.

"Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it." Sarah blushed and stood up again, walking to the whiteboard. "Okay guys, let's get our thinking caps on. What are some good battle songs?"

"Sugar Sugar."

"Helena, I'm sorry love but that will just make us a laughing stock. Plus I want some really good _'fuck you'_ songs to get back at Rach."

"Wherever by Shakira?"

"Not a 'fuck you' song either Helena." Helena sighed and slumped in her chair.

"What about Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond?" Beth joked and everyone began to laugh.

"Beth, stop takin' the piss now come on." Sarah tried to hold back a giggle but failed.

"Serious one, what about Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne?" Cosima nodded her head, along with MK.

"Hmm, possibly." Sarah nodded, adding it onto the spider diagram.

"And Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac?" Beth suggested and everyone excitedly nodded their heads.

"Beth, you're on fire today. Cos, you got any ideas floating about?" Sarah smiled as she wrote it down on the board whilst Beth folded her arms with a smirk.

"Uhhhhh." All Cosima could think about was love songs. She tended not to listen to them, but ever since she met Delphine, she couldn't really stop. "Ever Fallen in Love by Buzzcocks?"

"Yes, yes yes. Well done Cos." Sarah beamed as she wrote the punk-anthem on the whiteboard. "It applies well to me and Rachel."

Beth and Cosima began to snicker when Sarah had her back turned.

"What? It's true."

"Okay then Sarah. What about Tainted Love by Soft Cell?" Cosima suggested another song. 

"That's one of Fee's favourite songs." Sarah sighed. "Alright then, we'll do that one."

"It'll be funny to see the look on Rachel's face." Cosima joked.

 

The band thought hard and thought of more songs they could play, including Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division (MK's suggestion), Foxey Lady by Jimi Hendrix (A joint suggestion by Beth and Cosima, in which Sarah just rolled her eyes but ended up writing it down anyway.) Sarah suggested one of her own.

"What about On Top by The Killers?" Sarah asked the band and the other members began to snicker.

"Hmm, I wonder what _that_ means." Beth rubbed her chin with a laugh.

"I just want to be on top. Y'know, win battle of the bands an' all that."

"Yeah, no sexual connotations there whatsoever." Cosima sniggered and Beth and MK collapsed into fits of giggles.

"Shut up and listen, you nerds." Sarah raised her voice. "Okay, so, I dunno about you lot, but I feel bloody burned out today. We need to practice as much as possible, so you lot have got to answer my calls and texts when I send 'em."

"Yes mom. At least I'll know it's not a booty call or anything." Cosima saluted Sarah.

"I mean it Cos, don't go ignoring your phone like you always do." Sarah pointed a finger at Cosima. "And speakin' of booty calls, we need none of that too. No distractions, nothing. That goes for you too Beth, Mika."

"But Sarah me and Alison aren't even-"

"I know Beth, don't you think everyone knows. You still don't need the distraction an' I don't want you droppin' your bass and running to cater to Alison's every whim while we rehearse. This shit is important."

"So like, no contact whatsoever?" Cosima frowned. _Really, no text messaging or anything?_

"Yep, you hear that?" Sarah replied like it wasn't a big deal meanwhile everyone else was dying inside.

"Does Facebook count?" Mika rose her hand.

"Yes. No more poking Krystal, Mika."

"What about reddit?"

"Beth, you don't even use reddit." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Pinterest?" Cosima asked.

"Everything."

"Club Penguin?" Beth asked.

"Beth are you seriously taking the piss?"

"I thought Club Penguin ended dude." Cosima turned to Beth.

"No, some hacker would've brought it back online."

"What about FarmVille?" Helena rose her hand.

"Helena, the only distraction you have is food and honestly you won't be meeting that on FarmVille." Sarah looked at Helena who gave her a wave even though she was sat right in front of her. "Although we may have to turn the wifi off if you're on it all the time."

"Turn the wifi off?!" MK shouted, which was very out-of-character.

"Dude you are taking this _way_ too seriously."

"I want to win Cos."

"She wants to shag Rachel. That's why." Beth smirked looking to Cosima.

"Sarah what is wifi?" Helena shouted.

"Can all of you _shut up_ please?" Sarah demanded. "No shaggin', no contact i.e. hand holding, smiling, waving, et cetera, no stalking, no letter-sending, no pigeon mail, nothing."

"Does that go for you too Sarah?" MK boldly asked Sarah.

"Of course Mika. You hardly think I'm still talkin' to that alien after what happened last night right?"

"We wouldn't know Sarah, your relationship is so complicated with her. You act annoyed with each other all the time, she was probably turned on by you and wants a quick booty call to warm up her vocal chords."

"Firstly Beth, when she's with me, from the sounds she makes she's certainly not just _'warming up'_. Also yes we have a very unstable relationship, thanks for your interest, but I mean what I said. I am actually very angry with her."

"Very angry?" MK asked.

" _Very_ angry." Sarah replied.

"Very very angry?" Cosima prodded.

"Is your hearin' as shite as your vision?! _YES_ Cos, very angry.

"Would you still shag her?" Beth smirked.

"Of course, I mean, who wouldn't?" Sarah played it off.

"So you don't hate her completely then?"

"I do Mika."

"I thought relationships weren't meant to be full of hate."

"Well not all relationships are like yours and Krystal's Mika, all sunshine and rabbits and running through fields, rolling in the grass and all that shite."

"Yes, but-"

"Guys I've had enough, let's stop. Honestly I think I'd rather be sat with Grandma Kendall and S at bingo than sit here with you lot gettin' on my tits."

"Well someone has to if Rachel isn't." Beth winked.

The band decided to call their rehearsal and discussion time a day, and Beth and MK walked out of the garage, probably to go and write songs about Krystal and Alison and bitch about Sarah whilst Helena notified everyone before leaving she was going to go on FarmVille, probably for the rest of the night.

"Oi, Cos!" Sarah chased after Cosima who was about to leave.

"What now Sarah? Are you going to make me fill out a restraining order on Delphine now?" Cosima sighed.

"I'm sorry about everything, but it has to be done. You can contact her after the band battle if you want to Cos."

"Yeah, ok then." Cosima smiled a fake smile and Sarah frowned for a moment but took a step back. "See you tomorrow!" Cosima said cheerfully with a wave and ran out of the garage and walked down the street.

 

 _What a bitch,_ Cosima thought to herself. _Fuck that, and fuck this. Like Sarah was going to keep to her word that she wasn't going to screw let alone talk to Rachel._ Cosima shook her head.

 

Cosima stopped walking down the street, a smile on her face. _Hmm, Sarah wouldn't have to know, right?_ Cosima quickly got out her mobile phone, and sent a quick text message before shoving it back in her coat pockets, a smirk growing on her face as she carried on walking.

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////

 

The guitars rocked out and the drums bashed as Sarah launched into another chorus, the day after the _'no contact whatsoever'_ talk. Cosima wished they'd hurry up with practicing soon, they'd been practicing since 3pm and it was almost 9pm now (they did have a dinner break though, as Helena requested). They played the same songs multiple times and Cosima found herself getting a headache. She needed to be somewhere soon.

 

_'No time to search the world around_

_Cause you know where I'll be found'_

Sarah sang huskily into the mic whilst Cosima and Beth shared another microphone, adding the harmonies. Beth's fingers must kill, Cosima thought as she looked at Beth with the tight grip on her bass. Helena was still bouncing and dancing around everywhere, switching from the maracas to the tambourine, full of energy. MK was also doing a sterling job on the drums, keeping a good steady beat even when Beth ran up to her and played her bass to her beat, not being distracted whatsoever and sticking her tongue out excitedly at Beth who beamed back at her.

_'When I come around!'_

Beth launched into the classic, fun bass line whilst Sarah did a good job of keeping the rhythm on rhythm guitar whilst adding that much needed 'crunch' to the song. Cosima began to improvise and her fingers slid up to the high end of the fingerboard, finishing the song on a few high notes, whilst Mika did a mini-drum fill on the toms whilst crashing the cymbals, finishing the song whilst Sarah let her last chord ring out.

"That was fun guys. See you all tomorrow!" Sarah shouted as everyone started to leave. There was no point in taking their instruments with them as they'd just be back tomorrow to play again anyway. Cosima smiled to herself as she put on her red coat and walked into the night air, but frowned when she checked her watch.

 

_Shit, I'm late._

 

Cosima ran all the way downtown, into a little wine bar and immediately saw Delphine sat at a booth, tapping out a rhythm on the table.

"Ah, Cosima!" Delphine shouted and waved, and Cosima blushed whilst she walked over and sat opposite.

"Hello stranger." Cosima smirked whilst Delphine's lips turned up. Cosima took a good look at Delphine. Instead of her usual curls, her long blonde hair was straight, and she was wearing a flattering black coat. _She looked really fucking hot,_ if Cosima was honest.

“You’re late.” Delphine looked at her wrist watch.

“I’m kinda always late though, so kinda always sorry.” Cosima smiled, feeling really embarrassed.

"Have a drink." Delphine smirked as she slowly poured red wine into a wine glass for Cosima. "It's on me."

"Thank you," Cosima blushed whilst she subtly raked her eyes over Delphine's gorgeous face and hair.

_The things she'd do to her._

 

Cosima awkwardly grabbed her glass, and Delphine tapped her glass with Cosima's before they both took a sip.

"This stuff is nice." Cosima nodded her head in appreciation.

"Of course, it is French." Delphine smirked whilst she read out the name, making Cosima feel weird feelings all over her body.

Cosima giggled whilst Delphine put the bottle down and stared at Cosima with a small smile on her face.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Delphine asked in a soft voice, bringing Cosima out of her daze.

"Oh yeah, uhh....." Cosima felt really stupid. _She was the one who had organised a meet up and she didn't even know what to say?!_   "I see you've changed your hair."

"Changed my hair?" Delphine asked with an amused smile, whilst she ran her hands down her soft hair.

"Yes. It's..... _very_ straight."

"Rachel advised me to try out the straight-look."

Cosima almost spat out her drink.

" _Rachel?!_ "

"Yes." Delphine smirked. "She says it makes me look angrier, ready for the battle next Saturday." Delphine winked. "She also told me to wear more black."

Cosima's little heart did a backflip when she imagined Delphine stood all dressed in black, in black leather pants and boots, with that gorgeous long hair of hers.

"But do not worry, Cosima." Delphine sighed dreamily with a smile before raking her teeth over her bottom lip, making Cosima feel like she was on fire. "I am anything but straight."

"Oh," Cosima blushed, feeling like a bit of a nerd and giggled. _Oh boy, is she flirting with me? She's definitely flirting with me._ "I uh, I'm not straight either."

Delphine giggled, taking a sip out of her glass, whilst seductively looking at Cosima. "Congratulations, Cosima. I would feel very stupid if you did not......swing the same way." Delphine's foot touched Cosima's leg under the table and Cosima couldn't tell whether it was a coincidence or not.

"I, uh. I actually shouldn't be here right now." Cosima awkwardly adjusted her glasses whilst Delphine watched on, her mouth slightly open. "I uh," Cosima got nervous under Delphine's stare. "Sarah told us to have no distractions."

"Distractions?" Delphine's voice increased in pitch, and her eyebrows raised. Cosima felt the need to run into a lamppost at top speed.

"Yeah," Cosima awkwardly rubbed her neck.

"I am a distraction to you?" Delphine asked and Cosima didn't know what to think. "Do you think about me….more than you should?" Delphine's fingers traced the shape of the wineglass and Cosima's breathing got faster.

 

_Holy cow._

 

"I do, yes." Cosima admitted with a sigh. "Sarah told us there should be no contact, especially between me and you."

Delphine began to smirk.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know, she probably doesn't want you finding out our plans or songs or something." Cosima shifted awkwardly. _More like she thinks we’re going to bang or something._ Delphine looked at Cosima with a smirk, knowing there was more to her answer.

"Well, if it reassures you, Rachel told us exactly the same.”

“Really?” Cosima was surprised that Rachel had exactly the same idea as Sarah. Maybe they are both not too different at all.

“Yes. And here I am. Here we are.” Delphine laughed into her glass and Cosima blushed whilst she copied Delphine’s actions, trying to not feel like she pinning Delphine up against the nearest wall and kissing her there and then.

“So, what kind of songs are you doing? You seem to have a very varied setlist.” Cosima tried to change the conversation as Delphine was still staring at her with the same unreadable expression on her face, her eyebrow cocked. Cosima thought it’s almost like she just knew she was hot and she knew that she was making her squirm. Cosima, for once in her life, felt very vulnerable. Delphine was watching her like a fox eyeing their prey. Usually it was the other way around, with Cosima doing the chasing, but this time it felt very different and Cosima felt like she was in deep waters already. This made her feel very scared, but as Cosima sat there, looking at Delphine and Delphine looking back at her, she felt the adrenaline being released in her body, her heart beating as fast as MK’s spontaneous drum fills, as fast as Delphine’s performance of Wipe Out on that day at the music shop. She felt very excited at the mere sight of Delphine and she never thought she’d feel _this_ turned on as she was right now. She felt like she was a horny, hormonal teenager again.

“That, is top secret information.” Delphine smirked and gave Cosima a wink. “You, are _very_ cheeky.”

“I was just….curious.” Cosima smiled back.

“So, you came here to try and talk me into telling you my band’s plans? And not to see me?” Delphine questioned, and Cosima’s eyebrows raised.

“No, I actually,” Cosima adjusted her glasses nervously. “I came to meet you because I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Delphine leaned back, feeling quite surprised, but still wanting to play along with Cosima.

“So you are trying to seduce me?”

“Uh-“

“To get information about my band?” Delphine bit her lip as she watched Cosima repeatedly open her mouth to speak and then closed it again.

“No, _no!_ That’s not what I’m trying to do here.” Cosima sighed and flicked back a few of her dreadlocks. Delphine felt really entertained by watching Cosima get all hot and flustered, and leaned further forward, flicking back her hair in a swift motion. “I thought you said you didn’t bite?”

“I said I didn’t bite, much. Depending on how you are, there may be some biting later.”

 _“Wait what?!”_ Cosima felt so ridiculously turned on that it actually became laughable how much of a hot mess she had become.  _How does she do this to me?!?!?_

“Lovely place, isn’t it?” Delphine looked around the small wine bar with a smile. Cosima couldn’t believe how much a tease this woman was, how she could lay it on all thick one moment then act innocent the next. _This blonde was bad…….and undeniably beautiful._

“Uhh yeah.” Cosima smiled as she looked around too, trying hard not to blush at Delphine staring at her when she thought she couldn’t see. “5 Stars.” She wasn’t used to places like this, either hanging out at Bobby’s with Sarah and the band or Fungs.

“Cosima, you feel very far away. What are you thinking about?” Delphine asked in a slightly condescending voice, which weirdly made Cosima feel turned on even more. 

_Uhhh, you and me._

“Just....the battle on Saturday. I’m thinking about kicking your band’s ass.”

“Let’s see then. I, for one, will not go down without a fight.” Delphine winked. Cosima tried to wonder whether she was actually talking about the band or whether Delphine was hinting about something else. “I’d take great pleasure in doing so.”

“Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?” Cosima fanned herself.

“Yes, it is very hot in here, and very…… _tight_.”

_Holy watershed. That’s it, the woman will be the death of me._

“How’s about we take this bottle and leave?” Cosima asked.

“Wow, you’re very forward. And cheeky.” Delphine and Cosima got up, and when no one was looking, Cosima grabbed the bottle of wine and they both ran away from the wine bar, with people turning their heads as they bolted through the door. They ran down the street laughing, holding hands as they run underneath tunnels and stopped for a breather whilst taking sips of the wine.

“You’re fun to play with, Cosima.” Delphine smiled as they walked close to each other. “Not just musically, but it is also fun to just…..play around with you.”

“Yeah?” Cosima smirked as she moved closer to Delphine. “You’re quite a tease. Don’t you know the effect you have on me?”

“I think so.” Delphine returned the smirk back, also moving in closer. “It will sound better if you say it out loud though.”

“Fine then.” Cosima sighed. “You make me feel……very warm.”

“Really?” Delphine whispered as she stood inches away from Cosima’s lips, her eyes darting between Cosima's lips and her eyes 

“Yeah, it’s getting warmer now.”

“How warm?” Delphine grabbed Cosima’s coat collar and pulled her in closer, so that their noses bumped together.

“Hot, like _really_ hot.” Cosima’s eyes flicked to Delphine’s lips and she licked her lips in anticipation. “I feel like I’m on fire.”

“I could put out your flame,” Delphine whispered as she was very close to brushing Cosima’s lips. “But….” Delphine moved her face away. “I would much rather add fuel to your _fire_.”

“Oh god, Delphine.”

“Shh.” Delphine placed a gloved finger on Cosima’s lips. “That’s a _good girl_. I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything.” Cosima replied, squirming underneath Delphine’s touch.

“I want you to think about me.” Delphine smiled as she stroked Cosima’s cheek. “ _All_ the time.”

“I do that anyway.” Cosima whispered back, her heartbeat racing to the beat of Delphine’s imaginary drum fills.

“I want you to think of _touching_ me.” Delphine spoke slow.

“Yeah?”

“Of kissing me.” She said, her voice as soft as silk. How she could act like _that_ and be innocent at the same time was beyond Cosima.

“Delphine, please just put me out of my misery.” Cosima sighed, feeling like she was begging for something off Delphine.

“Close your eyes, Cosima.” Delphine whispered softly and cosima shut her eyes in anticipation. Delphine watched with a smile on her face as Cosima stood with her eyes snapped shut. Delphine moved in, breathing heavy on Cosima’s lips, before she left two kisses on both sides of Cosima’s cheeks, dangerously close to her lips. Cosima sighed as Delphine kissed for longer than what seemed necessary and she pulled away, not before rubbing Cosima’s lips with her gloved fingers. “Remember what I said, ma cheri.” Delphine smiled as Cosima slowly opened her eyes, staring at Delphine like she was in a trance. “I will _not_ go down without a fight.”

Cosima watched as Delphine removed her finger, flicked her hair and walked off down the street, not giving Cosima another glance.

Cosima could feel the warmth spread, and even felt a bit wet thanks to Delphine. _Great job Cosima, totally ignore Sarah, go and find Delphine and she does this._ _I bet she’ll tell Rachel all about it._

 

_Looks like I’m going down in flames, and possibly the band are too._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're liking the whole band/music thing, I'm writing another story featuring Sarah's band but in a different universe, well basically high school. It's called Fast Times at Scarborough High. 
> 
> :)


	4. Dressed To Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An intervention from Felix results in absolute chaos and Cosima finds herself the centre of attention after a heated moment in a dressing room.

Nearly every night that next week, Cosima found herself dreaming of Delphine, in one way or another. She dreamed of them everywhere - in a car, in Mrs. S' of all places, she dreamed they even got hot in an elevator. Cosima's personal favorite was the dream she had that they were in a science lab. She would've hated to be the cleaner afterward, brushing all of the broken glass from conical flasks that had been shoved to the floor in the heat of the moment. Yes – _that_ dream. All Delphine was wearing was a white lab coat, and a pair of long sporty socks that made her legs look incredible and made her want to-

"Cos is thinkin' 'bout _shaggin'_ again!" Sarah publicly announced to the band who began to giggle loudly. 

"No, I'm not." Cosima’s thoughts were interrupted and she quickly turned away after staring into space, guitar hanging around her body, trying to avoid Beth's smirk.

"Cos you've been zoning out nearly every practice. You need to find some way to deal with it."

"Put them fingers to good use." Beth winked.

"Beth that's disgusting, please shut up." MK shook her head, cringing whilst Beth laughed at her.

"Don't be such a prude Mika, just wait till you and Krystal get going." Sarah winked and MK blushed, staring down at the kick drum.

"I already put my fingers to good use, they're on the neck board!" Cosima shouted whilst everyone laughed at her, even Helena joining in, maracas in both hands.

"Stop imagining them on frenchie's neck then."

"Hey Sarah, unlike you, we're not all into strangling our partners."

"C'mon Beth, I think of all of us you're the worst."

"No I'm not!" Beth shouted.

"Yeah you are, I bet you take your police handcuffs whenever you go 'round to Ali's house."

"Hey, only I get to call her Ali. Also, there is never any need for police handcuffs because she doesn't think of me in that way!" Beth sighed in frustration, her head in her hands.

"She _bloody well does._  Like she'd make you watch Fifty Shades with her if she wasn't interested."

"It's just a movie though."

"She coulda asked Aynsley Norris though."

"Who's Aynsley Norris?" Helena asked Sarah even though she'd already seen Aynsley a countless amount of times.

"She's irrelevant," Sarah dismissed her. "Well, if you're not usin' them cuffs, can I borrow them?"

"No way Sarah, you're disgusting. I thought you said 'no contact rule.’.”

"Yeah but I might need 'em afterwards," Sarah winked but then her face fell and she let out a small sigh. "She's a bloody alien anyway, I don't want to go near her again."

"Make your mind up Sarah." Cosima sighed and shook her head.

"Shut up Cos, you can't bloody talk."

"Y'know all of this is your fault right? We wouldn't be in this mess if you didn't have to be a major idiot."

"Cos I'm doing you a favour here, I'm the reason why you're gonna get laid!" 

"You're just tearing us apart Sarah."

Cosima and Sarah began to shoot insults at each other and Beth stood with her bass, laughing behind her hand whilst MK looked around awkwardly and wished Beth and the others would shut up.  
"Sarah why are we shouting?" Helena shouted.

A door flicked open and Felix walked in, frowning at the sight and sound of the commotion and looked towards MK, pointing to Sarah and Cosima. MK just frowned and shrugged in response.  
"Hello everyone!" Felix smiled and made his presence known. "It's your band manager here."

"Oh bog off Felix, you're the las' person we need to see right now."

"Actually darling, I am the only person you need to see." Felix smirked in her face before looking at everyone. "Get all of your arses in them chairs and _sit down!_ "  
Everyone rushed to sit in rickety chairs, surprised by how stern Felix acted and Felix shook his head, his foot tapping and a pout on his face whilst he looked at everyone.  
"Sarah, I have to admit, this was a very stupid and careless decision. However, we should grab this opportunity by the balls."

"Does everything you say have to have gay innuendos?" Sarah groaned, folding her arms.

"Yes, darling. Now, not only do we need to think of practicing, thanks for the reminder Sarah, we need to focus on the other things."

"We need to practice Fee."

"Not all day and all night though Sarah." Felix shook his head and pointed at the dejected-looking band members sat alongside her (except from Helena, who was smiling at Felix and playing with MK’s hair.) "Your bandmates are becoming wiped out, tired, and most likely _sexually-frustrated_ because of you."

"Great, that's exactly what I was aiming for," Sarah smirked to herself whilst she took in all of her fellow band member's facial expressions. Even MK looked like she could fall face-flat on the floor at any second. "I'm the only woman these lot need."

" _Everything_ is wrong with that sentence Sarah," Cosima adjusted her glasses, shooting a glare at Sarah.

"C'mon Cos, you like the leather look don't you?" Sarah winked and moved her hips in a slow motion. Cosima looked away in disgust.

"Right okay, quickly moving on." Felix's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You can't keep practicing all the time, Mrs S is getting tired of all the noise and can't keep taking Grandma Kendall to bingo all the time."

"Bog off Felix, S loves our band, she's our number one fan. And I think we can _all_ agree the best place for Grandma Kendall is at bingo."

"Don't say that about Grandma Kendall Sarah." Cosima shook her head. She got on really well with Grandma Kendall, more than Sarah did.

"You girls need to get some fresh air, you're not as tight as you were a few days ago." Felix's honesty made everyone look to each other with troubled looks on their faces. Their songs didn’t sound as good and they lacked energy, probably because they were practicing all the time and doing little else.

"He's got a point, Sarah," Beth admitted. "I'm struggling to keep up with Mika, my fingers kill, look at all the blisters on them. They hurt whenever I touch something." Beth pointed to her blisters.  
Cosima took a look at her fingers too and noticed how callused they were. Delphine would not like this, but maybe she was used to them, being a musician herself.

"I have blisters too," MK sighed whilst she looked at her hands. If Krystal saw how damaged they were, she'd probably run away screaming. She just hoped she'd be able to get a manicure once this was all over _(and maybe something else.)_

"Quit your whinin', just grin and bear it," Sarah said hoarsely, her throat feeling a bit worn-out from all the singing and her wrists hurting from strumming.

"Nope. We're going to have a field trip, everyone." Felix smiled.

"Yes!!!" Helena shook her maracas wildly. "A field trip?"  
Everyone looked at Helena and wondered how the heck she had all this energy. For some weird reason, she was able to jump around the garage all day and all night, never getting tired.

"Yes, Helena. We are all going to get some retail therapy."

"Woo! I like the sound of that." Beth winked.

"You would, wouldn't you Beth? You're not skint like me. No Felix, I've spent enough money on me guitar."

"Shut up Sarah. I am the band manager and I am making an executive decision. You need to get out of the house, all of you."

"Can't we just borrow your wardrobe?"

"I think the performance could be enhanced by having matching outfits or of the same colour scheme."

"That's it, Felix. You're _really_ taking the piss now." Sarah shook her head.

"I am not, Sarah. We may get a record deal out of this, there may be representatives, and we want to look good don't we? You all want to look hot right?"

"Felix has a point, Sarah." Cosima nodded.

"Shut up Cos, just cause you wanna look good for Delphine."

"I want to look good for Ali though Sarah."

"She'll be putting her kiddies to sleep Beth-"

"I want to look good for Krystal, too." MK smiled.

"I like dressing up." Helena smiled.  
Sarah looked around and sighed in defeat.

"5 against 1, we're going shopping Sarah." Cosima smiled in Sarah's face whilst Sarah just groaned and leaned her head back, staring at the ceiling. Sarah hated shopping and spending money.

"Oh for f-"

"I love shopping." Helena announced.

"Me too. What should we spend our money on?" Beth smirked, looking to Sarah and winding her up.

"Why don't you buy yourself a _bloody gag,_ so you can shut the f-"

"I could do with some new video games," MK commented.

"We're not buying video games." Felix smirked. "Fashion, baby."

"I'm not fashionable Felix."

"Don't worry my little Mika, we'll make you look like a heartthrob."

"Hey, she already is!" Beth smiled and nudged MK.

"How we even gonna fit in one car? You don't think shite through do ya Felix?!" Sarah questioned and huffed.

"We're in luck Sarah, I happened to drive here on my motorcycle today." Beth smirked with a wink, pushing up her shirt collar and becoming all smug about the fact she owned a motorbike. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"A motorbike?" Helena bounced in her chair, her hair flowing wildly, biting back a smile.

"Great going Beth, now look what you've done," Sarah pointed to an excited Helena, who really wanted to ride Beth's motorbike.

"You brought your motorbike? How sexy, Beth Childs," Felix gave Beth a playful wink. "But no seriously, can I ride with you? I hate sitting in the back of Sarah's scummy car-"

"Felix that's well offensive, how _bloody dare you._ Why don't you take your long bloody legs and w-"

"I also don't like how loud she plays her music, it is really bad."

"Felix you love it, what are you on about?"

"Sarah last time I went in your car I got a perforated eardrum." Felix sighed and Cosima couldn't help but break into laughter, followed by MK and Beth.

"That's your own stupid fault for sittin' right next to the speakers then, you silly ti-"

"Felix you can ride with me anytime," Beth winked, but then began to frown. "I wasn't flirting, by the way."

"I know Beth, don't worry, I won't tell Alison." Felix smirked. "But if I was straight, or, in a better way, if I was Alison, I'd be all over you like a rash."

"I'm glad someone thinks that." Beth smiled.

 

After Felix practically dragged Sarah off her seat, the band got moving and were stood outside.  
"Good fit Felix?" Beth asked Felix who put his helmet on and he gave a thumbs up in response. "Awesome man. Hold onto me very tight."

"I'll be sure to Elizabeth."

"Felix you're taking this Alison Hendrix roleplay thing way too seriously." Sarah scoffed and MK giggled.

"Fuck off Sarah, just ‘cause you wish someone would roleplay as Rachel Duncan with you." Beth retorted and began to rev up her bike.

"I've had enough roleplay with her to last me a lifetime Beth, get real." Cosima's eyebrows shot up, even though she wasn't surprised at all to hear it. Felix suddenly felt the immense urge to stick pins in his ears too and immediately jumped onto Beth’s bike, ending the conversation. The others got into Sarah's manky car with Helena taking shotgun and MK and Cosima in the back.

"Catch you on the flip side, motherfuckers!" Beth shouted and gave a loud beep on the horn before whizzing off, and Sarah could just imagine the smug smiles Beth and Felix probably had on their faces.

"Come on then you lot, at least we're riding in style." Sarah smiled and it took her 3 attempts to get the engine to run and the battered car spluttered off from Mrs S', sending everyone jolting forward. "Oops, a bit of a shite start." Sarah laughed nervously.

"You say that every time Sarah." Cosima sighed after almost face-planting the seat in front of her. The paint-chipped, spluttering, and probably hazardous lump of metal on four wheels whizzed down the road, the Hawaiian girl in the windscreen jiggling along to Sarah's tape of London Calling.

"I wish I was on the motorbike," Helena commented whilst staring out of the window.

"Maybe next time, yeah?" Sarah replied hoping that Helena will drop the subject soon. The overall feeling was that Helena and bikes do _not_ go well together.  
Helena slumped back in the passenger seat and pulled up her parka, whilst MK sat in the back, her eyes glued to a game on her phone. "You two are quiet." Sarah looked at MK and Cosima in the rear-view mirror as they drove for a while.

"I'm fine," MK replied as she played Minecraft. Cosima just stared out of the car window, feeling like she was in a music video as she watched couples holding hands on the streets with a sad look on her face. She wished that could be her and Delphine one day, but it doesn't look likely, what with Sarah's tight grasp and Delphine's reluctance to give into their undeniable chemistry whenever they are together. Cosima sighed. Delphine really wasn't making this easy for her, being so forward but keeping well away at the same time. She was right, Delphine was adding fuel to the fire, and she was watching her burn.

"Cos?" Sarah kept looking at Cosima in the mirror.

"What?" Cosima jolted, smacking her head. _Ouch, that hurt. Why isn’t Sarah keeping her eyes on the road instead of looking at me anyway?_

"You're quiet," Sarah stated. "Somethin' goin' on?"

"No, is there something going on at your end?"

"Uhh, no," Sarah replied and laughed, quite amused that Cosima thought she was still up to something with Rachel.

"Good, then there's nothing going on at mine then." Cosima huffed and folded her arms, thinking about Delphine yet again. If Cosima was honest, there was nothing going on at her end at all. There was Delphine who she saw the other night, shared many sexual innuendos with, maybe played footsy under the table with, and nearly kissed, but there was nothing going on really. All they did was went against the band leaders and met. _That was it._

There was nothing going on, as far as Cosima thought that Delphine felt. But Cosima herself felt like there definitely was something going on, she could feel it in her bones. She had no idea whether Delphine was just being a tease, or using her to get one for her band and turn her into some sticky, hot mess on the performance night _(if she was, then it was working)_ or whether she actually had an interest in her.

Cosima hoped it was the latter.

 

The car stayed mostly silent throughout the journey except for the sounds of Sarah's tape in the player, the sounds of Clampdown filling the car, even Helena was silent. Sarah found all of this really unnerving whilst the others just sat tight-lipped, Cosima and MK for once enjoying the silence.

They soon arrived at a car park, and not long after Beth's motorcycle parked up alongside Sarah's car, giving a loud beep on the horn. Sarah sighed. _Beth really needs to relax with that horn of hers._  
"Here's me thinkin' you'd be here before us," Sarah smirked as everyone was stood by the vehicles, and Beth took off her helmet, her long brown hair flowing off her shoulders.

"Yeah well, Felix wanted me to take a detour." Beth smiled.

"That was the _ride_ of my life," Felix smiled and nudged Beth.

"Alrigh' alright shut up now. Let's get this shite over with."

"You really hate shopping don't you Sarah." Cosima looked to Sarah. "Why?"

"It's bloody painful Cos. It's boring, everything is expensive, you have to wait 'til everyone else is finished, then there's the shoppin' bags-"

"Did Rachel make you go shopping with her?" Cosima smiled, actually interested to see Sarah's reaction.

"Yeah, we did go." Sarah looked down at the floor and kicked the stones, pretending to be doing something else whilst hiding her blushing face.

"Explains why you don't want to go shopping then. It reminds you of her." MK smiled and everyone began to laugh.

"Mika you know I love you but I wish you'd stop talking."

"She's telling the truth." Beth smiled.

"Can I sit on your bike?" Helena asked Beth randomly, her hands in her coat pockets.

"Uhh, yeah! Sure."

"Beth, take the keys out first-"

"Don't worry Sarah, I will."

After Helena had a sit on Beth's bike for a good fifteen minutes Sarah finally grabbed her off and they began to hit the shopping mall.  
“Come on muppet.”

The band and their manager strolled through the shopping mall, with everyone walking at a leisurely pace except from Sarah, who was pacing and just really wanted to get the shopping trip over. She forgot how many times she had to drag the others away from the shops – grabbing Beth and Helena whose faces were pressed up against the glass outside Dunkin’ Donuts, pulling MK away from the Video Game store, and tugging on Cosima’s dreadlocks as they walked past a French Artisan bakery.

"Don't get why you couldn't just sit on that bike there," Sarah nudged Helena as they passed the video arcades and pointed to the motorcycle racing game.

"Can I go on it?"

"No meathead."

"Can we not play on the games?" MK asked with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Mika but we're getting down to business now." Felix replied.  
Felix led the band down a number of streets until they were finally stood outside a designer shop.

"Really? You wanna shop here?" Cosima asked in surprise. Surely everything in this shop would cost more than Sarah's car.

"Yes, just to get some ideas of what looks good on you." Felix smiled. "Nice isn't it."

"That's it, I'm leaving." Sarah was about to walk away until Felix grabbed her.

"Uh, no. You're going in there, young lady."

"I am _not_ stepping foot in there."

"Why? What's the problem? They're nice clothes, Sarah."

"Posh bitch shops there." Sarah sighed.

"Even more reason to pop in!" Felix dragged everyone into the shop and even Beth felt quite out of place as she read some of the price tags.

"$600 for a sweater? Really?" Beth frowned as she held up a sweater whilst Cosima and MK laughed.

"I'll have you know that's a cashmere sweater." A familiar voice spoke and everyone swiftly turned around.

"Hi.....Aynsley." Beth smiled awkwardly, the coat hanger still in her hands before she nervously put it back on the rack.

"Hello Beth and.....friends." Aynsley's smile was tight-lipped and she looked like she was holding something back, her smile pleasant but her eyes suggesting otherwise. "So this is what you've been up to?"

"Huh?"

"Alison told me she hasn't heard from you for a while. She doesn't seem to be happy about it."

"Ah shit." Beth mumbled, her hand rubbing her head as she closed her eyes.

"Who's that?" Helena pointed to Aynsley Norris, who gave her a weird look before she recognized her.

"Aynsley Norris you muppet, I told ya before," Sarah whispered.

"Hi Helena, how are-"

"Mind your own business, _Painsley_." Helena growled at Aynsley whose eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Sarah shook her head and closed her eyes, feeling the second-hand embarrassment.

"Of course, I apologize. I just worry about Alison."

"It's okay, I've been very busy at the moment." Beth tried to smile at a very creeped-out Aynsley who slowly backed away from them before leaving the shop and probably running all the way back to Bailey Downs to report to Alison.

"Damn," Beth sighed. Alison was angry at her. An angry Alison is _not_ nice to deal with.

"Sounds like Alison's on the warpath," Cosima adjusted her glasses, feeling a bit bad for Beth.

"Yeah well, I just hope she'll forgive me." Beth sighed again before walking off to another part of the store, and Felix gave Sarah a look whilst she stood eyeing up a dress, which she quickly held up to show to Felix.

“Rachel Duncan. _Uber bitch_.” Sarah imitated Rachel’s voice and Felix rolled his eyes.

"Sarah, this is not on. What's happened?" Sarah put the dress back down on the rack, slightly annoyed that Felix didn’t acknowledge or laugh at the joke.

"There's a no-contact rule, hence why Alison is annoyed Beth isn't speaking to her."

"Ahh, so _that's_ why you've been ignoring my messages." As soon as Sarah heard that piercing voice she closed her eyes and silently wished that the floor was quicksand to save her from the likely embarrassment about to arrive from Queen Bitch.

Sarah slowly turned around, only to be face to face to the enemy who haunted her dreams almost every night, destroying her in every way possible, leaving her breathless, and leaving her slightly turned-on for some outlandish reason.  
"Hello, Sarah." Rachel stood tall and proud in her high heels, lifting up her head and staring at the window in the distance. "It's a surprise to see you here."

_You talkin’ to me or the window love?_

"Well now you know how I felt seeing you in Bobby's bar then," Sarah glared at Rachel, who just stood with an amused smile on her face. "We're even-steven now. Neither of us in our natural habitat."

"Sarah, why are you being so cold to me?" Rachel let out a an extended sigh as she looked Sarah up and down, and Felix stood watching on, with MK and Beth now joining, cowering behind Felix but trying hard to hide the smirks on their faces.

"I coulda asked you that same question long ago Rachel." Sarah mocked. "They don't call ya _icicle tits_ for nothin'."

"Who calls me that?" Rachel arched an eyebrow.

"Uhhh?"

"I think you mean _‘Uber Bitch’_ , my darling Sarah.” Rachel stared Sarah down, her pupils expanding more as time progressed and Beth was tempted to get the stopwatch out on her phone to time how long they would be stood like that.

Whilst Sarah and Rachel were _not_ staring at each other in a sexual manner whatsoever, Cosima found a decent suit which she thought might be appropriate for the performance. Felix recommended something smart and sexy at the same time and Cosima reckoned she had it in the bag with this. She smiled as she walked into the changing rooms and chose a cubicle, putting the hanger on the wall, taking off her shirt until the curtain suddenly flicked to the side.

"What the-"

"Shh, don't say a word." A familiar French voice replied and Cosima pushed the shirt over her head, and wished she kept it on in the first place. _Oh crap, this is so messed up._

"Delphine, why are you-"

"We can't let them hear us." Delphine whispered with a cheeky grin appearing on her face, and Cosima swore she saw Delphine's pupils expand under the bright light.

"Who?"

"Who do you think, Sarah and Rachel of course." Delphine laughed. "Goodness Cosima, who else?"

"I don't know." Cosima frowned, only focusing on Delphine and the slimming white dress she was wearing.

"You seem to be very lost in thought Cosima." Delphine took a few steps back before she put a black dress on the hanger and smiled at Cosima. "Do you mind if I try this on?"  
_Wait what? She's trying on a dress in front of me now?! Has she been taking weird seduction tips from Rachel?_

“Uh, no. I don’t mind.”

A small grin appeared on Delphine’s face as she slowly got out of the dress, standing in nothing but lacy white underwear and Cosima was certain if she looked closely she'd be able to see her nipples. She stood with her mouth agape, taking in the sight in front of her.  
"Are you still there Cosima?"

"I think I'm lost, Delphine." Cosima replied, staring at Delphine. Delphine gave her a wink and put her hands on her waist, moving them up and down and Cosima really wanted to replace them hands with her own. Delphine watched as Cosima watched her hands, her teeth catching on her bottom lip as her eyes wouldn't look away.

  
"I'd love to give you directions....." Delphine whispered in a low voice, and Cosima really felt like crashing into her and pinning her against the wall there and then. "But.....I cannot _explore myself_ more than I already have done these past few nights."

"What?" Cosima coughed and Delphine giggled in response, turning to get the black dress off the hanger.

"It's only human nature Cosima, it’s okay to give in." Delphine lowered her eyes towards Cosima's lips. "That is, if you don't mind burning."

"I think I've turned to ashes now." Cosima laughed.

"I'm glad to have had that effect on you."

Cosima sighed as Delphine stepped into the dress and almost wished she would've stayed stood there in her underwear. That _was_ a sight, that's for sure.  
"Cosima, can you help me with something?" Delphine asked in a serious tone rather than a flirtatious one and Cosima knew she wasn’t joking.

"What is it?"

"Can you zip me up? Just reach around," Delphine grabbed both of Cosima's hands and deliberately guided them over her waist, which Cosima grabbed instantly. Delphine began to laugh and Cosima just frowned.  
"My back Cosima, although I've got to say I am flattered your instinct is to do that." Delphine blushed and Cosima felt like her hands would just burn the dress away anyway.

"Uh okay then." Cosima regretfully moved her hands away from her waist and up to her back, her hands exposed to bare skin and the feel of Delphine's skin beneath her hands made Cosima feel wild with excitement. Delphine subtly edged her body closer into Cosima's so that they were in an embrace, and Cosima tried hard not to notice but failed.

"Cosima, is the zip there?"

"Hang on, I'm just reaching for it." She felt even more nervous and tried to feel all over to find the zip but all she could feel was bits of black dress but was mostly met with skin. Delphine's skin felt smooth to the touch and Cosima couldn't feel anything but her skin, which made her feel like an entire orchestra was playing _Ride Of The Valkyries_ inside her body. She could feel the fever pitch building, the tension rising, Delphine's eyes not looking away and their bodies so close that Cosima wouldn't be surprised if a spell was to magically undress the pair of them as the electricity and the magic felt so thick in the air she began to feel like she was floating. 

 

Meanwhile, outside the changing rooms, people were stood waiting behind Sarah and a glowering Rachel waiting for them to move before they finally got the message and walked around them with a defeated huff. Sarah stared back at Rachel, her mind drifting to the musical piece _Flight of The Bumblebee_ as Rachel looked like she could sting her at any second. _Nice try getting through all this leather._

“Why are ya starin’ at me, Rach?”

“I could ask you the same question, Sarah.”

“Are you stalking me now?”

“Don’t _flatter yourself_   Sarah.” Beth and MK couldn’t stop laughing as they stood behind an annoyed Felix. “You’re not answering any of my calls.” Beth and MK’s laughter began to stop and they glared at Sarah.

“Like I’d answer any of them, Rach, not after what you’ve done. You've been ignoring me for weeks and you didn't give a shite.”

“We have a no-contact rule.” Beth piped up, staring at Sarah and hoping she was keeping to her word. “She can’t make any contact with you, and she’s already broken it.”

“What a _shame_ that is.” Rachel cooed and Beth rolled her eyes, moving away. 

"If you don't mind Rachel, Sarah and the band have some business to attend to." Felix tried to push Sarah away from Rachel but Sarah stood her ground, not moving anywhere. 

"What business would they have to attend to in here?" Rachel laughed. "They can barely afford to pay for their bills, let alone spend money in here."

"None of your business." Helena growled, squaring up to Rachel. 

" _Oi_ , back off her." Sarah grabbed Helena by the shoulder and pulled her near her. 

"So you _do_ care Sarah." Rachel smiled to herself, a tiny little blush on her cheeks. 

"No, I just wouldn't want Helena being probed and prodded, you alien," Sarah muttered.

"I didn't hear you complaining last time we were together Sarah." Rachel smirked and Felix pulled Sarah away this time, walking her off. 

"Come on Sarah, we only have two hours parking and if we're stood here any longer we'll be fined."

"Here's me thinking you're coming to buy something in here!" Rachel shouted after her.

"Piss off, you stalker."

"Love you too Sarah."

"She's _really weird_. Your relationship with her is _really weird_." Beth commented.

"Think you and Alison need to take a look at yourselves in the mirror." Sarah grumbled as Rachel stood watching her walk off to a different area of the shop, a smirk still on her face. 

 

Elsewhere, Cosima continued to lean upwards to feel for the zip and Delphine's hands lowered to Cosima's waist, rubbing her hands up and down it and Cosima tried hard not to moan in delight. 

"I might need to move some of your hair," Cosima mumbled and then moved some of Delphine's hair and was instantly welcomed by how soft and nice it smelled. "Oh god."

"What's up, Cosima?" Delphine asked, fully knowing the effect she was having on her because she too was feeling very expressive but to her actions speak louder than words.

"I meant, oh gob."

_"Oh gob?"_ As Cosima thought of 'gob' she instantly thought of Sarah. _Shit, the others are here._

"Yeah, uh, gob is short for goblin."

"I know Cosima, but why are you thinking of _goblins_?"

"I'm not, I just." Cosima reached more for the zip and all she could smell was Delphine's perfume, the intoxicating smell filling up her senses and Cosima felt drawn deeper into Delphine's web.

"You like my perfume?" Delphine smiled as she heard Cosima softly sigh against her neck. "I put it on especially for you."

"Delphine, there is no zip."

"I was waiting for you to say that." Cosima moved away from Delphine's neck to look at her, the dark glint in her eyes becoming even bigger now. For a few moments she forgot they were in a changing room, of all places, and suddenly came crashing down to Earth when she realised they were most likely making a lot of noise, fumbling together in the dressing room and she wouldn't be surprised if Felix and the others were listening in. 

"Delphine why are you here?"

"Rachel wanted to run some errands, and she wanted me to try out some heels."

"Really?" Cosima said in disbelief. "Is that it?" She felt kind of hurt that she wasn’t the real reason why Delphine came here, but then pulled herself out of it. _Like Delphine would want to see me after brushing me off like that._

"Well, no. We saw you walking around the shops earlier and we couldn't help but follow you." Delphine smiled and let out a soft sigh as she took one of Cosima's dreadlocks and played with it with her fingers. "We're just inexplicably drawn to each other, Cosima. I'm the moth to your flame."

"Wait, Rachel is outside? _That means Sarah is with her!"_ Cosima shouted and Delphine placed another finger on Cosima's lips.

"Shh." Cosima lost count of how many times Delphine shushed her already. "We can make this last longer, I'm sure of it." Delphine's hands on her back and her eyes on her lips sent Cosima under her spell, which she cannot stay under, not here, not now.

"Delphine, now is not the right time."

"Come on Cosima, I thought you liked it to be hot." Delphine purred.

"Delphine, I don't want our first time to be in a _dressing room!_ "

"Cosima?" Sarah shouted, looking around for her.

"Cosima," Delphine whispered, becoming desperate and pushing Cosima closer into her. "Kiss me."

"I can't-"

"Kiss me _now._ " Delphine whispered, almost demanding her to, her eyes not leaving Cosima's lips. Cosima found it _so hard_ to avoid it. Delphine laid her hands on Cosima’s bare shoulders, adding even more gasoline to Cosima’s fire.

"Not when Sarah and Rachel are here." Cosima moved her head away but Delphine placed a hand on her cheek to turn her to face her once again.

"Come here."

"Del-"

"Defy them."

"Cosima?! Come out now or I will pull the curtain on you!"

"Delphine, I can't-"

"What difference does it make?” Delphine replied almost breathless. “We have already defied them Cosima, we have already gone against their wishes. Kiss me now Cosima, _take me._ " Delphine breathed onto Cosima’s lips, her mouth trembling and her nails digging into her back. She paused for a moment whilst she ran her nails down Cosima’s back, leaving scratches. "I have been thinking about you every night this week."

"So have I." Cosima whispered back, feeling the sting from Delphine’s nails which only pushed her closer to the edge. Sarah's footsteps began to get louder and Cosima knew they wouldn't be able to do it without being caught. "But please, wait, not now." The words were laced with regret as she closed her eyes briefly and opened them again, sensing the disappointed look in her Delphine’s eyes.

Delphine brushed her lips against Cosima's slowly and Cosima found it hard to resist the urge but she pulled away, trying to compose herself. "I want us to be alone. Just you and me, and no distractions.”

"I'll be waiting Cosima." Delphine sighed but managed a smile as Cosima hurriedly ran out of the cubicle from the curtain as the footsteps grew even louder.

"Cos what are you? _Woah_..." Sarah stood in surprise looking at Cosima.

"What?" Cosima replied, taking off her glasses and trying to subtly wipe off any steam that had been on them before.

"Uhh, your shirt.....its gone."

_Oh fuck._

Cosima looked down and noticed her shirt was off. 

"Your bra straps are...." Sarah pointed and Cosima quickly adjusted her bra straps, feeling very embarrassed. Matters only got worse when Felix and the others walked over. 

"Hey Cos, _nice rack_." Beth winked. 

"Nice milk dispensers," Helena commented and everyone burst out laughing. 

"Oh dear," Cosima sighed. 

"Quick Beth, _cover Mika's eyes!_ A young child does not need to be seeing this pornography."

"Shut up Fee, Mika's probably already seen it all las' week when her and Krystal were 'watching movies.'"

"Oh really?" Felix was surprised. "Get it girl."

"I haven't seen them yet." MK blushed. 

"I need to get my shirt on." Cosima sighed and her eyes widened when she found it subtly shoved onto the floor. Cosima silently thanked Delphine and hurriedly put her shirt back on.

"Okay, fun's over guys, we can't watch Cosima strip-tease all day. Let's look for some good threads." Felix commented and they all followed him out, with Cosima taking a look back at the dressing room before they walked off. 

The group wandered around the shop, trying on lots of different clothes. Sarah walked out, all dressed in black, wearing a black hat.

"Rock and roll." She said in a German accent. 

"No, just no." Felix rolled his eyes. They went to the suit section and each band member tried one on. 

"I know I take the piss outta you Beth but goodness you look pretty hot." Sarah commented as Beth walked out in a black suit and blouse, an untied black bow tie lying around her collar. 

"Shut up Sarah." Beth laughed.

"Ms. Childs will see you now, Alison Hendrix." Felix smirked.

Next Sarah tried on a similar suit but decided to undo quite a few buttons. She walked out, messing up her hair whilst she strolled around for the others. 

"You look good Sarah." MK nodded. 

MK was next, who also looked very dapper in a suit and bow tie, and Cosima finally tried on the more formal suit and waistcoat, which had everyone raising their eyebrows. 

"God, you all suit these suits. This is a definite yes." Felix smirked whilst nodding his head. "Just Helena now." 

"I like dress." Helena pretended to be twirling in a dress.

"What about this one?" Felix grabbed a dress and gave it to Helena. 

"No. It is very ugly." Helena gave it back. "I would like a nice one." They searched the store for a 'nice dress', but Helena did not like any of them. Felix headed for the door.

"We not buying them suits?" Beth asked.

"No, we can get them cheaper elsewhere." Felix then walked down the street, on the way to the nearest thrift store.

"Shit, look who's over there!" Sarah not so subtly pointed out. 

"It's Alison!" Helena shouted. Alison turned around.

"Shit, _get down!_ " Beth whispered and everyone hid behind a nearby car, with Sarah looking over to see what Alison was up to. "Why is everything so weird today?"

"Looks like she's going to the Home Depot." Sarah laughed as she watched Alison look around before she entered the store. "Probably gone to fill up her _glue gun_ for interrogating Beth."

"Shut up Sarah." 

"Maybe there's a 2 for 1 offer on rope and cable ties?" Felix suggested and everyone began to snicker at Beth who just blushed in embarrassment. 

"Come on, let's get moving." The band spent quite a while in the thrift store, looking for something Helena actually liked. They finally found a classic Ukrainian dress which was very similar (if not identical) to the one Helena already had. 

"That was a waste of time." Beth commented as they were walking out. 

"Hey!!" A familiar manicurist shouted from the corner. "Mika!" Sarah gave MK a stern look. 

"You talked to Rachel earlier." MK reasoned. 

"Mika!!" Krystal went running over to MK, about to give her a hug until she saw who was stood next to her. Sarah and the others decided to wait further down the street after Krystal gave Sarah some serious side-eye. "How have you been babe? You haven't been replying to my messages!" Krystal pouted as she put her hands on MK's arms. 

"I'm sorry Krystal, me and the band have been preparing for a show..."

"Oh," Krystal smirked. "You and your band. That's _hot_."

"Yeah, and, uh." MK rubbed her neck nervously. "We're playing on Saturday."

"Saturday? That's great! That's......oh," Krystal realized they had a date on Saturday. 

"I know." MK sighed. "I tried to get Sarah to reschedule, but its Battle of the Bands and she wouldn't listen. I hope we can reschedule."

"Of course honey." Krystal smiled, rubbing MK's shoulder. "I've been waiting like, _forever_ for you to ask me on a date, so waiting another week wouldn't be too hard." Krystal winked. "I'll be in the crowd, cheering you on. It's Bobby's, right?"

"Yeah, and thank you." MK blushed again.

"It's no problem at all, baby." Krystal purred. "I'm just going to head into Victoria's Secret now." 

"Oh, right." 

"Yeah......I'm going to get your reward ready for you, for when you win Battle of The Bands." Krystal whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah." Krystal nodded and bit her lip. "I'd ask you to come, but.....I wanna keep it under wraps." Krystal began to stroke MK's cheek and Sarah's eyes almost popped out at the sight.

"Uh-huh." 

"Plus you've got your band, waiting for you. Waiting for the most _important_ member, _the drummer_." Krystal looked over to them as they stared with surprised expressions and smirked. "See you later, hottie." Krystal walked off, smiling to herself as she walked past the rest of the band and made a point of walking into Victoria's Secret. 

MK slowly walked over to face the others. 

"That was hot." Felix fanned himself. 

"Don't worry Mika, you and Krystal will _come_ to terms once all this is over." Beth winked. "You won't be the only ones _coming_ to terms." Beth took a glance at Sarah, who was frowning at something in the distance.

"Coming?" Helena repeated. 

"What's up Sarah?" Felix asked Sarah who had a worried look on her face. 

_"My car!"_ Sarah ran over to her car, followed by her bandmates. A parking attendant was stood right next to the car, writing out a ticket. 

"This is your car? I'm writing you a fine." 

" **WHAT?!** "

"Here's the total cost, for an expired parking ticket and for parking on the yellow line."

" **ARE YOU TAKING THE** -"

"Hello Sarah!" Rachel smiled as she walked past, carrying Home Depot and Victoria's Secret shopping bags with Delphine in tow. "Ooh, what a _nasty_ fine!"

"Piss off Rach, you bloody-"

"What? I get a ticket too?" Beth sighed as she saw the ticket attached to her bike. 

"Look how much mine is! _$150 fuckin' dollars?! That's daylight robbery!"_    
  
Rachel laughed as she walked past and Delphine looked at Cosima with an awkward smile, feeling a bit sorry for her and the rest of the band. 

"At least I'm not Sarah." Beth smirked but her face fell when she saw who was walking over. 

" **ELIZABETH CHILDS**!!" Alison shouted, large Home Depot bags in her hands and Beth was stood fearing for her life. 

"Oh crap." Beth whispered as she saw Alison emerging from the distance. 

Cosima just stood in the middle of it all, Sarah shouting at the parking attendant, Alison whacking Beth with her shopping bags which contained goodness knows what in, Helena laying on the bonnet of Sarah's car hissing at the parking attendant and refusing to move until he leaves, MK stood next to Beth trying not to think of what Alison had in store for Beth after this charade, and Rachel and Delphine stood watching the show in amusement whilst Felix had to restrain Sarah from knocking the parking attendant's lights out. 

_Yup, great job Felix!_   No outfits, no money, no chance of winning and now probably no front-woman as Cosima was sure the parking-attendant would call the police station soon and get Sarah busted. That'd look _great_ for Beth. At least the _'no-contact'_ rule had been breached. Cosima could now reassure herself things between her and Delphine aren't as fucked up now and that her situation isn't that far different from everyone else's. Then again, a blonde, beautiful French woman didn't break into their changing room, undress in front of them and then proceeded to beg for a kiss. _Yep. This was messy. Not just for me now, but for everyone. Thanks to Sarah (and now Felix, probably) everyone was in shit deeper than they had ever imagined._

" _WOOP WOOP!_ That's the sound of the police!" Helena shouted as blue and red lights began to flash.

 

_There goes all of my hopes and dreams_ , Cosima thought as she saw Delphine hurriedly running away from the emerging police cars, giving one last glance before she ran away into the distance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dress Delphine changes into is very similar to the outfit/open back blouse she wears at Felix's art opening in 5x08 'Guillotines Decide'  
> Got carried away with this chapter, so quite a big one. I hope you like reading this as much as I liked writing this! :)


	5. Defy Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's almost twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go until the Battle of the Bands performance and Cosima just wants to be sedated. Delphine, however, has other ideas.

Cosima thought her day couldn’t get any worse when she spotted Delphine in the parking lot just as Sarah and Beth got themselves parking tickets, but it progressively got worse from then on. After Sarah’s outburst at the traffic attendant and Helena’s reluctance to move, the police were called out and Sarah, Helena, and Beth were thrown into the back of a police van, with Rachel laughing and waving as the door was slammed and the van drove off, carting them off to the police station. Cosima had to admit, for some reason it was aesthetically pleasing to see Beth in police handcuffs for a change but it wasn’t nice having to walk all the way back to Felix’s loft after Alison refused to give the others a ride home, instead following them all the way to Felix’s for no reason, shouting out the car with the windows wound down almost like an annoying teacher telling you to move it in gym class. All Cosima could think was that she was glad she wasn’t Sarah. At least she didn’t get thrown into the back of a police van, with Delphine laughing at her. Even if things were pretty fucked up, she could’ve been busted and she wasn’t.

MK sighed as she stood at the vending machine at the police station, her fingers worriedly tapping against the machine. Cosima watched as she sat down in one of the rather uncomfortable chairs with Felix sat next to her, who was also anxiously tapping. Cosima looked at the vending machines and wondered if they were even working, judging from how long MK had been stood there, looking at the options. The glow from the vending machines reflected on her face and she could see the worry etched on MK’s face as she stared at the drinks options.

“Maybe you should kick it,” Cosima spoke quietly as she looked at MK. It was night time now after they had all spent the day pacing Felix’s loft, worrying whether Sarah would be locked up after this stint because of her previous criminal record and also worrying whether Beth had lost her job as a detective. It certainly hadn’t been an easy day for any of them, and at some points over the past 2 hours of waiting, Cosima found herself nearly falling asleep.

“It’s working,” MK replied, her face looking sullen. “They just don’t do iced tea.”  
Felix sighed as he once again reluctantly opened up last week’s newspaper for the 3rd time since they arrived, just looking for something to pass the time.

“I can’t believe all of this has happened,” Felix said as he flicked the page, his voice sounding tired but still annoyed.

“Me too,” Cosima replied, looking at Felix’s disappointed face. It wasn’t Felix’s fault, although he probably did feel bad about it.  
“Don’t feel like it was your fault, Felix.”

“I know it wasn’t my fault,” Felix replied. “If Sarah wasn’t such a stubborn arse, none of us would be in this mess.”  
To be fair, Felix was right. Beth wouldn’t have been roped into any of it if Sarah had paid her fine, but for some reason, Beth was pulled into it as she defended Sarah and was inadvertently put into the police van with her. “All of this stems from Sarah being a stubborn arse though. If she didn’t want to get one over on Rachel, we wouldn’t be at the police station,”

“And Delphine wouldn’t hate me.” Cosima didn’t think Delphine hated her, although after the scene before she had a feeling that Delphine would be less interested in her now after all the baggage she has. The police sirens flashing in the background were also a good warning sign.

“And Krystal would be here with me.” MK spoke up as she touched the vending machine, her voice sounding sad. Cosima just wanted to wrap her up in a little blanket and tell her everything was going to be okay, but that’s the thing, she had no idea.

Right now, the band’s future was hanging in the balance. Beth’s job was on the line, Cosima’s budding relationship with Delphine was also on the line and Sarah’s hopes of a normal life without the intervention of the criminal justice system was also wearing thin.

Cosima closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair and tried to think of happier thoughts. She thought about winning the Battle of the Bands that Saturday, seeing the look on Rachel’s face when she finds out she lost, holding Delphine in her arms as they realized they can both see each other without it being awkward..... _Wait. If it’s Thursday night now....and tomorrow is Friday...._

 _Shit, it’s nearly 24 hours until Saturday. 24 hours until the battle._ Cosima didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this stage. All of this was, at first just some silly joke that was funny at the night at Bobby’s bar but now it’s turned into some cruel joke. Not only was Sarah in deep shit with Rachel, Beth was also on a death wish, considering the looks and icy reception she had received from both Alison and Aynsley before, and from how heavy Alison’s Home Depot bags looked. Cosima even worried for Mika, whose shot at dating was being disrupted, thanks to Sarah. She could kind of relate to how MK was feeling, not being able to see the only person you wanted to see and it really does suck. At least Helena seemed happy though, even if she did get punished, she was still smiling even when she was handcuffed, smiling at being stuck with her twin sister in the back of police van. Cosima thought back to what her, Beth and Sarah planned to do back at Bobby’s bar last week - be more Helena. That was _exactly_ what she needed to do. No worries, no stress, just do whatever the heck you want and don’t give a shit about it. She could do with being a lone wolf for a while anyway. It’s not as if Delphine will want to know her now, not after all the shenanigans previously and the other made up crap Rachel had probably spouted about her and the band. _Yep. No more women, that was her biggest weakness. Stay away from hot women, Cos, and you’ll be just fine._

MK’s head lifted up when she heard some police officers speaking and she bolted up when she caught sight of Beth, who was talking to Lieutenant Hardcastle and Art.  
“It won’t happen again Lieutenant, I promise.” Beth spoke, looking tired as she slumped around.

“I know it won’t Childs, it’s not like you to get a parking ticket. But please, for the love of god, tell your friends to calm down, especially that blonde one.”

“Just look at my shirt!” Art pointed to his coffee-stained shirt with a defeated sigh. “She owes me a new one.”

“We’ll get you one as soon as possible Art.” Beth smirked and she saw MK and the others at the waiting room.

“Beth!” MK shouted and Beth came running to MK and gave her a big hug. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too Mika,” Beth smiled and they broke apart. Cosima and Felix stood up to see Beth.

“Beth, is everything okay?” Cosima asked, slightly worried as to where Sarah and Helena were.

“Yeah, thank goodness. Lieutenant Hardcastle understands the problem and I’m not in any trouble, which is nice. I still had to pay the damn fine though, and I paid for Sarah’s too.”

“Beth, you shouldn’t have done that!” Felix sighed, not believing his sister would let Beth pay for her fines but also believing it at the same time.

“Felix, she said she didn’t have enough money on her. Plus, it gets the police off our case.”

“What about Helena?” MK asked.

“She’s been given a warning, but I talked about the situation to the other officers and they seemed to understand.”

“Beth, what would we do without you?” Felix smiled at Beth, who just shook her head and laughed.

“I don’t know Felix, I really don’t.” Beth wiped her eyes. “Wow, I’m so tired. Anything happen when I was gone?”

“Yeah, Alison followed us in her car all the way back to Felix’s and she wouldn’t even give us a ride.” MK shook her head and folded her arms, pretty peeved that they had to walk all the way back too.

“I can believe that,” A smile appeared on Beth’s face as she imagined what it must’ve looked like, but then it quickly fell as she thought of Alison and how mad she’d be at her. “Was she angry?”

“Yeah, but she’d get over it soon, you know what she’s like,” Felix reassured Beth. “Plus, she’s got her items from Home Depot to be keeping her busy. She might be doing some construction work or some crafts.”

“Probably working on building me a coffin.” Beth joked.

“More like building Sarah a coffin. She was really mad at her for dragging you into her shit.”

“Well, that’s why I’m in the band.” Beth sighed, putting her hands in her pockets. “We’re all dragged into each other’s shit, it wouldn’t be right if we weren’t.”

“True.” Cosima nodded. She’d find it really odd if she was at home reading some books or playing Agricola with Scott right now instead of being stuck with these nerds.

“We’ve all got each other’s back and we’re all idiots either way, so who cares.” Beth smiled and everyone laughed, and Cosima was glad to see a smile on Felix’s face after a long night of grimacing. They all stood in a circle, smiling at each other and all thinking how glad they were to all be in this crap together. A few doors opened and the group all heard bickering. “Wonder who that is?” Beth smirked. To no one's surprise, Sarah and Helena came around the corner, escorted by Art.

“You are a very good man, Art.” Helena commented as Art led her and Sarah over to the group.

“Thanks for the compliment, Helena. Don’t think that’s going to get you out of getting me a new shirt though.” Art looked dejectedly at his shirt.

“I’m sorry ‘bout that Art, I’ll get ya a new one as soon as I can.” Sarah replied.

“Have you not forgotten about the fine?” Felix glared at Sarah, silently seething but knowing it’d be no good arguing about it now.

“I’m sorry Beth, I’ll pay you as soon as I get the money.” Sarah looked at Beth with a sorry look on her face and Beth knew she was being sincere.

“It’s okay Sarah, I’ll just add it to the current debt,” Beth joked.

“I’d start charging interest if I were you, Beth.” Felix laughed and received a hiss from Helena, which made everyone laugh, including Art. Cosima thought to herself who taught Helena money handling although she remembers Mrs. S’ many money advice lectures and of course Beth’s knowledge on debts.

“Maybe I should just become a loan shark.” Beth smirked to herself. 

“Let’s go home.” Sarah sighed and they all walked out of the police station. Art gave them a ride to Felix’s in the police van so that everyone could fit in.  
Cosima sat opposite Beth with a smile on her face, watching MK who had now fallen asleep on Beth’s shoulder.

“Wonder what she’s dreaming about." Cosima smiled.

“Krystal, probably.” Beth smiled as she moved some hair away from MK’s face.

“I still can’t get over how amusing it was to see you in handcuffs, Beth.” Cosima giggled and the van was soon full of giggles.

“I know right, even I felt a bit weirded out by the situation.”

“Did you pretend it was Alison putting ‘em on you?” Sarah asked.

“No!” Beth chuckled although Sarah could tell Beth was now thinking about it, especially when she went quiet for a while and looked down to the floor with a thoughtful expression. Everyone sat in a long silence for a while, all tired out after the stresses of the day.

“We should sit in police vans more often, sestras.” Helena smiled. “And brother sestra.”

“No, Helena.” Sarah wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Just no.”  
The van went quiet again until Sarah yawned, then Helena yawned and then everyone began to yawn, almost like a Mexican wave of yawning. They soon arrived at Felix’s loft. “Thanks for the ride Art, appreciate it.” Sarah smiled as Art rolled his window down.

“No problem. I’ll be adding the gas money to the outstanding debt.”

“Now I see how you and Beth are so similar,” Sarah rolled her eyes as Beth stood with a smile.

“Thanks, dipshit.”

“No worries Beth.”

“Would you like to come in Art?” Felix asked.

“I’m good thanks, Felix. I’m working the night shift tonight. I’ll see you guys at the gig on Saturday!” Art drove off and Beth stood there with a frown.

“Ah shite, not long now.” Sarah groaned.

Everyone was too tired to walk home so instead, they all slept dotted around Felix’s loft. MK and Helena slept on the sofa, Beth slept on an armchair, Felix slept on duvets on the floor and Sarah and Cosima shared Felix’s bed.

“I’m sorry Cos,” Sarah whispered as Beth quietly snored in the background. “I’ve been a real arse.”

“It’s okay Sarah, we can all be ass-hats sometimes.” Cosima took her glasses off and put them on the nightstand.

“Jus’ promise me one thing.” Sarah joined her hand with Cosima’s. “Never give up on me, on us, okay? I know how shite this band thing can be, how many relationships it’s ruined for you. But I need you, we need you.”

“I’m staying Sarah.” Cosima smiled. “I’m not gonna leave now, especially after all the songs I’ve put forward and the guitar parts I’ve recorded.”

“Good. Goodnight Cos.” Sarah smiled as she closed her eyes, her hand not leaving Cosima’s.

“Night Sarah.”

 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

Cosima thought about her and Sarah’s conversation all day the next day. After waking up, Beth complained she ‘could smell herself’ and everyone disbanded to clean themselves up and get a shower before Sarah ordered for band practice later on (to get in as much practice as possible)

Cosima even thought about their conversation in the shower.  
_‘Never give up on me, on us, okay?’_

She rested her head against the tiles, releasing a deep breath as the water fell down. The band meant a real lot to her. They’ve all been childhood friends for as long as she could remember. Cosima smiled as she thought of the memories they all had together - when they toilet-papered their old physics teacher, Mr Westmorland’s house, Alison’s face when they broke into her house on her birthday and played her happy birthday as a surprise _(it was Beth’s idea, which didn’t exactly go to plan when Alison walked in holding a golf club)_ and the time Helena crowd surfed at the talent contest in high school. They had all grown up together, and Cosima knew that they’d all stay together. Whatever happens.

After a long day of moping around and doing nothing, Cosima finally trailed out to Sarah’s house, buttoning up her red coat as she walked in the cold air. When her phone began to ring, she wasn’t expecting that name on the caller ID.  
“Cosima, hi.”

“Delphine?” Cosima was partly shocked and partly nervous. _Firstly, why was Delphine calling me?_ Cosima was surprised Delphine would want anything to do with her after what happened the other day in the parking lot. She also felt very nervous as this was Delphine who was calling her. Delphine, the amazingly, _mind-numbingly beautiful_ woman that could sweep in and turn her into a giant heap of melted jello on the floor faster than Beth when she spots a Dunkin’ Donuts or any similar franchise.

“Yes, it’s me,” Delphine replied and Cosima felt like she should smack herself in the face with a hammer. “You have caller ID right?”

“Yes, I do.” Cosima blushed and almost walked into a woman pushing a pram. She quickly swerved out of the way and apologized. “I just can’t believe you’re calling me.”

“Why?”

“Uh, 'cause of what happened yesterday,” Cosima thought hard about how and why Delphine made her feel so nervous and came up with nothing.

“Oh right,” Delphine laughed down the phone and Cosima frowned wondering how she could’ve found it funny but then again it probably did look funny to an outsider. “That wasn’t your fault, Cosima.”

“It still made me look stupid though.”

There was a short pause on the phone and Delphine sighed. “We need to talk, Cosima.”

“About what?” Ok, now was the time to get nervous.

“About.....things.”

“Okay, tell me.” Cosima could feel her heart beating rapidly, bracing herself for Delphine saying something like _‘I’m sorry but I_ can’t do _this’_ or _‘I’m leaving on a plane back to France once this is all over’_ and Cosima could feel her heart breaking the longer Delphine took to reply.

“I need to see you in person.”

“Okay, when? Tomorrow? After-“

“No, tonight. It can’t wait.”  
Cosima gulped, her mind already racing to conclusions. _Did she want to end it all? Did she want to say there was never anything there in the first place? Did she want to get the inside scoop on Sarah, Helena and Beth’s trip to the cells and feedback to top spy Rachel Duncan?_

“Uhh....are you sure? Should we really be doing this?”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t we be practicing instead?”

“Cosima, I don’t want to hear your excuses. Please, just meet me.”

“Where?”

“At the High Park, at 9pm.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Cosima’s hands began to tremble as she ended the phone call, a thousand questions floating inside her head. Things didn’t get any better when she went to Sarah’s. She was sure being with the band would be a welcome distraction, but it only reminded her of the fact she had to see Delphine soon and also the reminder that she was about to go behind their backs again even when she told Sarah she wouldn’t.

_You’re such an amazing person Cosima._

“So what about Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths?” Sarah paced around the garage, looking at everyone who couldn’t be less interested.

“Nice song title.” MK laughed.

“Yes, it is very apt for Rachel.”

“It’s more of your kind of song love.” Mrs S smiled as she poked her head through the door. “You and that big gob of yours always getting yourself in trouble.” Everyone began to laugh, especially Beth.

“Mrs S you’re a legend.”

“Thank you very much Beth.”

“Whatever mum.”

“She can give it but she can’t take it.” Mrs S giggled.

“Is that what you’re like with Rachel too?” Beth asked and everyone including Mrs S laughed.

“Now I know how Joan of Arc felt,” Sarah sighed and Mrs S tottered off.

“Sarah, don’t you think we’ve got enough songs by now?” Beth piped up.

“I dunno, just wanna be prepared. We don’t know how many Rachel’s done.” Sarah looked around before staring at Cosima. “Cos, you’re quiet. What do you think? Should we try more songs?” Everyone’s eyes flicked to Cosima.

“Uhh.”

After Cosima’s long moment of indecision mixed in with weird thoughts about a certain French drummer, they soon got down to business with practicing even more songs which would probably be unnecessary anyway and Cosima was thankful for the slight distraction. But even with her guitar getting most of her attention, Delphine still lingered in the back of her mind, banging away on Cosima’s brain, trying to convince her somehow not to go with your head but your heart. After the practice, Cosima hurriedly put her coat back on and checked her watch.

“Hey Cos, we’re thinkin’ of hittin’ the drive-thru. Wanna come?” Sarah asked with a smile on her face and it made Cosima’s heart hurt at the sight of all of her friends and bandmates stood watching her with big smiles on their faces.

“I....I Uh. I feel really tired, and I could do with resting up for the big day tomorrow.” Cosima tried hard not to focus on the disappointment on Sarah’s face. “Sorry, guys.”

“No, it’s cool.” Sarah smiled and unexpectedly pulled Cosima into a hug. Cosima felt terrible at this point and tried to reassure herself what she was doing wasn’t that bad. Everything soon became even worse though when Helena insisted they had a group hug and Cosima was squashed in the middle of Sarah and Beth, both looking at her with big smiles on their faces, and Helena looking at her with another big smile, a tight grip on an uncomfortable-looking but still happily-smiling MK. Cosima thought that if Helena found out she was secretly meeting with the enemy she _will_ be shivved in her sleep.

_I feel like such an ass. But if this was Beth, would she be doing the same?_

After the tight and slightly awkward (for Cosima it was anyway) group hug, Cosima walked away from Sarah and her bandmates, shoving her hands into her coat pockets with a sigh as she tried hard not to think about how she was once again betraying her bandmates...her sisterhood. Sarah’s words echoed in her mind as she walked to meet Delphine at the park, and she often had to look over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. It was bad enough doing this anyway, but the last thing she needed was to be caught.

As she reached Toronto High Park, Cosima sighed as she reached the main area, and pulled out her phone to see where Delphine was.

_‘I’m sat on a bench by the trees’_

Cosima searched until she found Delphine, who was sat looking up at the stars, a small smile on her face.  
“Hey,” Cosima sat next to Delphine, not sitting too close as she didn’t know why she was even called here in the first place. She placed her hand on the bench.

“Cosima.” Delphine smiled. “Hi. You came.”

“Yeah,” Cosima smiled back, feeling a bit more confident. They sat in silence for a while, fireflies dancing in the background and leaving a glow on Delphine’s face, who was looking up at the starry sky. Cosima watched Delphine who was looking at the stars, releasing a small sigh. Yes, the stars were beautiful but not as beautiful as the blonde woman sat next to her.

“Thank you.” Delphine looked at Cosima, whose cheeks went a warm red as she quickly looked away. “It means a lot to me.” Cosima looked down and bit her lip, avoiding Delphine’s longing gaze. “Do you know why I brought you here?”

“I thought it’d be.....” That you wanted to end things, to finish everything. “I’m not sure.”

“I wanted to see you before tomorrow night Cosima,” Delphine said with a sigh. “I didn’t want you to be nervous.”

“I’m fine Delphine,” Cosima sighed and placed her hand on her head. “I just feel bad because I’ve left all of my bandmates to see you.” Delphine stared at Cosima as she spoke, her eyes often glancing to her lips. “Last night Sarah told me not to leave them. But....here I am.” Cosima laughed to herself. “I feel like dirt.”

“We’re in this together Cosima.” Delphine placed her hand on top of Cosima’s, her thumb rubbing against her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”  
Cosima had to say she missed the contact of her hand, but she couldn’t get over how meeting at the High Park at night was such a romantic setting. _It almost reminded her of that lame movie Alison had made them watch a few weeks ago, called Notting Hill or something._ Whatever it was, all Cosima could think about was how close Delphine was walking alongside her and how amazing she always looked when she saw her. “It is okay to disappoint people once in a while, Cosima,” Delphine said as they walked by the lake, the light of the moon reflecting on the water. “Sometimes you have to do what’s right for you.”

“They’ve always stood by me,” Cosima said with a smile. “All the way, since we were kids. It’s like being in a sisterhood.” Delphine smiled as Cosima talked about her group of friends. “We’re so different, but we’re all the same. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be.”

“That’s really sweet Cosima.” Delphine smiled. “But it is okay to make your own decisions every once in a while.” Delphine stopped for a moment as she took in the beauty of the lake. “We need to talk about us.” Cosima stopped and turned to look at Delphine, whose eyes flicked from the lake to Cosima.

“I can’t believe what happened yesterday.”

“Me neither. But I really liked it.” Delphine bit her lip.

“You enjoyed seeing my friends get busted?” Cosima laughed.

“Yes, I think Rachel enjoyed it more than me. What I enjoyed the most was our moment in the changing room.” Delphine blushed.  
_Of course, Rachel would love seeing Sarah chained in handcuffs, being the sadist she is._

“Uhh yeah, me too.” Cosima tried hard not to think of the situation and become turned on, especially when she and Delphine needed to talk. “Delphine, I can’t ignore the way I feel when I’m around you.” Cosima closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You make me feel.....I don’t know. It's like we’re the only people in the world and I feel so, _so_ happy when you're around me.” Delphine tried hard to contain her smile but failed. “But I’ve been hurt in the past, and I don’t want to get hurt even more.”

“I never want to hurt you, Cosima. I want to love you.” Delphine reached for Cosima’s hands. “I want to love you and your sisters.”

“My ex-girlfriend was in a band....as you can already tell, that didn’t go well.”

“Just give me the chance.” Delphine’s hand cupped Cosima’s cheek. “Let me love you.”

“How will all of this even work? What about your band, what about mine? What about Sarah and Rachel? What if they all knew-“

“Defy them,” Delphine whispered, her thumb rubbing in circles against her cheek. “For once in your life Cosima.” Cosima knew she’d be taking a massive gamble, Sarah would kill her if she found out she was with Delphine of all people. “I can’t wait any longer to be with you, Cosima. Every time I’m around you, I just hear melodies in my head.”

“I’m dancing to the beat of your drum, Delphine.” Cosima giggled as they stood in their embrace under the moon. “And you’re a really fast drummer Delphine, especially on Wipe Out.”

“Ah, but your fast fingers on the fretboard make me even more entranced..” Delphine said with a wink. “Which is why I wanted to see you.”

“For my fast fingers?”

“Partly, But also because I want you to be mine.” Delphine grabbed Cosima’s hand and guided it to her chest. “Can you feel that?”

“Yes.”

“It’s my heart, and it beats to your rhythm.” Cosima burst out laughing and Delphine frowned at her but still smiled. “What’s funny?”

“That was pretty cheesy.”

“I am very cheesy though Cosima. I am French, we enjoy lovers.” Delphine smirked. “I want to be with you, Cosima. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”

“Are you serious?” Cosima smiled, not really believing why Delphine wanted to and how such a gorgeous woman could like her in the first place.

“Yes, very serious. And I hope you're serious about me too.”

“I am serious. There’s no one else I want but you.” Cosima sighed. “It’s just the band.”

“Forget about them for a few hours,” Delphine whispered as she played with Cosima’s lips. “Just think about me.”

 

 

Cosima made sure to focus on Delphine and Delphine only, especially as they went crashing into Cosima’s bedroom, unable to separate themselves away from each other, their lips inseparable whilst they crashed into the walls. Cosima’s hands were tangled in Delphine’s hair as they kissed with force, unable to hide their feelings for each other anymore. Delphine unbuttoned Cosima’s coat, and soon more clothes were thrown to the floor.

“Delphine,” Cosima moaned as Delphine bit her bottom lip. Cosima had never felt anything better than the feel of Delphine’s lips against hers, and her hands on her waist. She felt like she was floating in space, it made her feel good, and while she did want to kiss Delphine all night, the night was soon going to end and the morning would come, as would the battle, so Cosima found herself becoming a bit impatient as she played with the buttons on Delphine’s jeans, her mouth on Delphine’s neck as she left a mark there that’d definitely show the next day. She didn’t care. Delphine told her to focus on themselves in that moment, and no one else.

No, Cosima did not think about Sarah, Beth, Helena or MK as she guided Delphine in their embrace to her bed. She didn’t think of how she was slightly betraying her bandmates for the sake of a girl, she didn’t think that she was about to sleep with the enemy. All she could focus on was Delphine’s persistent focus on kissing, the way her lips tenderly moved against hers, and the way her hands not so subtly guided Cosima towards her underwear, feeling the warmth through the thin fabric. Maybe she didn’t want to be more Helena - she wasn’t going to be a lone wolf now, especially when she knew Delphine was this into her. At least now she didn’t give a crap. “Delphine,” Cosima moaned again in between kisses, caught in Delphine’s half-naked embrace on her bedsheets. Bra now disregarded on the floor, Cosima’s mouth moved again from her lips to down her neck, on a trail towards her breasts whilst her fingers remained in the same position as they were before, hovering over the hem of Delphine’s underwear.

“You feel so good,” Delphine let out a breathy moan as Cosima’s hands caressed her waist whilst she left a long line of kisses down her stomach, then back up again to place kisses on her breasts. Delphine pushed back her curly hair, her mouth open in delight as she watched Cosima take her time on feeling as much of her body as possible, her delicate hands softly touching her breasts whilst her lips pressed around her nipples. Cosima took her time on each one, feeling Delphine shiver as she ran her fingertips up and down her body in a slow motion. “I can’t wait any longer.”

“I was waiting for you to say that,” Cosima smirked and gave Delphine a lingering kiss before she slowly held Delphine’s hips and pressed her down onto the bed.

“You know what I said,” Delphine smirked. “I won't go down without a fight.” Delphine’s hands slinked around Cosima’s neck and she pressed her down into her to meet in another kiss that made both of them feel like they were up in the clouds. Cosima’s phone began to vibrate and Cosima almost turned to look at it but Delphine guided her back to her lips again. “Ignore it.” Delphine moaned as caught Cosima’s lips again. Cosima’s hand moved down to her underwear, pressing against it and feeling the warmth radiate.

“And you told me that I burned,” Cosima smirked as she looked at Delphine.

“You have the same effect on me Cosima.”

“Are you ready for me?” Cosima whispered.

“I’ve been ready since the day we first met.”

“That’s hot,” Cosima smirked.

“I just want to feel you.” Cosima moved down and slowly slid down Delphine’s underwear, throwing it to the floor to join the rest of the clothes.  
Out of nowhere, Cosima’s phone began to ring, the sound of her ringtone filling the room.

 _‘It's poetry in motion_  
_She turned her tender eyes to me_  
_As deep as any ocean_  
_As sweet as any harmony’_

 _"She Blinded Me With Science?"_   Delphine giggled at Cosima's ringtone. 

“Goddammit.” Cosima moaned, ignoring the phone and placing long kisses on the insides of Delphine’s thighs. Delphine’s moans of pleasure soon drowned out the sound of the phone call, which Cosima was thankful for. “Are you ready for me now?” Delphine looked down at Cosima, nodding. “Okay then gorgeous. Get ready for-“

_‘It’s poetry in motion’_

“Oh for fuck's sake!” Cosima sighed, just about to feel Delphine’s warmth with her fingers.

“Maybe you should answer it Cosima.” Delphine said, and the phone suddenly stopped ringing.

“Thank god for that, now we can get to-“

_‘It’s poetry in-‘_

“Oh man.” Cosima groaned.

_‘It’s poetry in-‘_

“Why keep ending it and then calling again?” Cosima sighed with defeated and got up to look and see which annoying little prick was calling her. “Sarah. I should’ve known.”

“Is everything okay Cosima?” Delphine sat up, her hand on resting on Cosima’s shoulder.

“I don’t know why she’s calling me.”

“You should answer, it might be important.”

“This is important though Delphine. I don’t want to let you down.”

“You’ll never let me down Cosima.” Delphine smiled as she played with Cosima’s dreadlocks. “But this could be serious.”

Cosima sighed as she heard her phone ring for the 6th time and finally answered her phone.  
“Cos, why the bloody ‘eck haven’t you been picking up?”

“Sorry Sarah,” Cosima looked at Delphine. “I was, Uh.....” _about to make love to our enemy, the drummer of Rachel’s band._ “I was just sleeping.”

“Right. Well, you better get your arse here. Somethings happened to Mika.”

“Is she alright?” Cosima’s eyes widened and she began to pace around the room. “What happened?”

“Silly tit thought it’d be a good idea to scrape up on her ice skating skills to impress Krystal for when they finally go on their date. Scrape up she has.”

“Shit, is she feeling okay? Where are you guys?”

“The hospital. She needs her bandmates with her Cos.”

“I’ll be there as fast as I can.” Cosima hanged up on Sarah and let out a long sigh, rubbing her forehead.

“Cosima? Are you okay?”

“Not really. Mika’s hurt. I’m sorry Delphine, but I’m going to see her.” Cosima rushed to get her clothes back on, avoiding looking at Delphine’s naked body as the last thing she needed was to be turned on on the way to the hospital.

“Oh god, I’m sorry Cosima. I hope she’s okay.”

“She’s the drummer in my band,” Cosima hurried to put on her t-shirt and put her glasses back on. “She’s like a sister to me.”

“Go, Cosima. Go and be there for her.” Delphine smiled, touched at Cosima’s love for her bandmates.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you.”

“I’ll be right here waiting.” As soon as Delphine said that, her phone also began to ring. “Or, we can resume this tomorrow.” She said with an apologetic smile.

“Thank you, Delphine. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“We’ll sort things out after the battle.” Delphine smiled.

“You’ll still want to be with me? After I kick Rachel’s ass?”

“Of course I will, Cosima.” Delphine winked as she put on her underwear. “Even more so.” She followed Cosima to the door, opening it for her and Cosima walked out.  
“Go,” Delphine said and gave Cosima a quick but passionate kiss.

“I can’t believe this.” Cosima sighed, looking at what she was leaving as she stared at Delphine in her sexy underwear.

“Give your sisters my love.” Delphine smiled and Cosima gave her a quick kiss before she ran down the corridor.

_I don’t think they’ll be that pleased to hear that._

 

////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

After a long run to the hospital, even when she already felt breathless from spending the past hour with Delphine, Cosima waited in the waiting room, thinking to herself of how she was sat like this the night before although in the police station. She couldn’t believe that, in the space of one night, everything had changed so quickly. Delphine wanted to be with her, almost ready to give herself to her, and Cosima really couldn’t get her own head around it, despite feeling so happy she could walk on the sun and not wince in pain.

“Cosima!” MK shouted with a smile on her face as she hobbled over on crutches.

“Mika! Are you okay?”

“Where the hell have you been Cos?!” Sarah shouted at Cosima, initially angry but began to sooth down.

“I’m sorry Sarah, I really am.”

“Don’t worry my brave ox, you will be better soon.” Helena said as she stood next to MK, patting her head.

“She’s got a broken ankle.” Beth piped up. “She’s been given some painkillers and told to rest.”

“Will you be okay to play drums?” Cosima asked MK with a worried look on her face. 

“She better had be, I’m not quittin’.” Sarah said and Beth shot a glare at her.

“I will be. It’s my left ankle and I don’t usually use that foot anyway.” MK tried to smile but the pain was evident on her face.

“She’s got balls of steel this one.” Beth smiled and they all walked out to Sarah’s car in the night. Sarah helped Beth put MK's crutches in the boot and they all got in, with Sarah at the wheel, Helena riding shotgun, and a smiling MK wedged between Cosima and Beth.

"Thanks for coming, Cosima." MK smiled as Sarah set off.

"It's no problem, Mika." Cosima smiled but still felt really bad about the fact she left Delphine, who was sat quite literally _wide open_ before, ready for her and Cosima tried very hard not to think of Delphine being the one to possibly say what MK had just said if she had stayed.

"Let's put a tune on!" Beth smiled. "We still going to Fungs Sarah?"

"I thought you guys went to the drive-thru before?"

"Oh, we did." Helena smiled as she looked at Cosima.

"MK decided to skip though." Sarah said as she put a tape in the player. "Get ready guys."

"You guys are _still_ hungry?!" Cosima shouted as the tape began to play and big smiles began to appear on everyone's faces other than Cosima's.

"Yep." Beth smiled. "Need to get the energy for the late-night practicing for tomorrow."

"Late-night practicing?!?!" Cosima shouted.

"Hey Sarah, can we stop off at the store to get some bully reds?" Beth asked Sarah and Cosima's eyebrows raised.

"Red bulls? Alrigh' then Beth." Cosima was shocked and also quite disappointed to hear the late-night practice was actually on the agenda. _No going to see Delphine now._

 

 _'Is this the real life?_  
Is this just fantasy?  
_Caught in a landslide,_  
_No escape from reality.'_

 _  
_ Sarah, Beth, Helena and MK sang along in perfect timing to the song, and Cosima began to wonder why everything seemed so orchestrated. Is this actually real life? Did I really just leave Delphine, lying on the bed very much naked to run here to see these goons? Cosima did feel like she was caught in a landslide, always falling back to these idiots as she always had done and always will. She just couldn't escape from reality, the reality probably being that there was a band battle tomorrow which will probably mean the end of her and Delphine, because that's what kept happening to them, things getting in the way all the time. The idiots carried on singing along to the song, smiling at Cosima, trying to get her to join in but at the moment she didn't want to play ball. 

'Mama, _just killed a man,_  
_Put a gun against his head,_  
_Pulled my trigger, now he's dead._  
_Mama, life had just begun,_  
_But now I've gone and thrown it all away.'_ Beth sang in her best dramatic voice and Sarah smiled at her encouragingly in the rear-view mirror as she nudged into Cosima, who was awkwardly sat in the middle, hoping that she didn't leave any of her left-over weed from a while back in the car. 

 _'Mama, ooh!_  
_Didn't mean to make you cry'_ Helena's loud voice echoed through the car, making Cosima jump and MK and Beth squeeze into her, smiles on their faces.   
_'If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,_  
_Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters.'_

Beth sang the next verse, belting out the lyrics with a clear and clean vibrato and Cosima was surprised that Beth (and any other of the others) didn't seem to be under the influence in any way, just enjoying listening to the music. _Bohemian Rhapsody_ was by no means an easy song to sing, and Beth was making it look super-easy. 

 _'Mama, ooh_ _(_ any way _the wind blows),_  
_I don't wanna die,_  
_I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all!'_ Beth continued to sing as MK joined in on the harmonies in the background, and then they all sat in delight listening to the short guitar solo, before the bouncy piano kicked in and Helena began to smile as it approached her favourite part of the track. 

 

 _'I see a little_ silhouetto _of a man,_  
_Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?'_ Sarah sang along to the tape with a smile.

 _'Thunderbolt and lightning,_  
_Very, very frightening me!'_   Helena boomed in her deep voice.

 _'Galileo!'_ Beth shouted in her high pitched voice.  
_'Galileo!'_ Helena boomed back.  
' _Galileo_  
_Galileo_  
_Galileo Figaro'_

 _'Magnifico-o-o-o-o'_ MK joined in whilst everyone joined in one by one adding their harmonies. 

' _I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me.'_ Cosima sighed, finding herself joining in.

 _'He's just a poor boy from a poor family,_  
_Spare him his life from this monstrosity!'_ Everyone sang back, smiles on their faces.

 _'Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?'_ Cosima sang back, finding the lyrics somewhat relatable.

 _'Bismillah! No, we will not let you go.'_ Sarah, Helena and Beth sang in deep voices.  
_'Let him go!'_ MK sang and they continued.  
_'Bismillah! We will not let you go_  
_Let him go!_  
_Bismillah! We will not let you go.'_  
_'Let me go!'_ Cosima shouted and they continued to sing along, heads nodding along as they sang full of energy. 

 _'Oh, mama mia, mama mia'_ Beth sang, whilst everyone else joined in.  
_'Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me!'_  
MK began to air drum and soon everyone headbanged to the guitar riff that started and Cosima still felt out of her comfort zone but was brought out of her thoughts by Sarah singing the next verse with energy, whilst everyone pretended to be air-playing their air-instruments.

' _So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?_  
_So you think you can love me and leave me to die?_  
_Oh, baby,_ can't do _this to me, baby,_  
_Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here.'_ Sarah sang, thinking of Rachel Duncan whilst everyone headbanged in the background. Cosima soon lost herself to the music, playing her air-guitar to the solo, whilst Beth plucked her air-bass. 

 _'Nothing really matters,_  
_Anyone can see,_  
_Nothing really matters,_  
_Nothing really matters to me.'_ Beth sang in a soft voice.

 _'Any way the wind blows.'_ Helena sang and the last chord rang out, and the gong crashed as everyone sat with smiles on their faces, whilst the next track on Beth's 'You're Damn Right' Mix Vol.1 began to play, Bang A Gong (Get It On) by T. Rex came on and the smiles widened on everyone's faces. 

 _'Well you're dirty and sweet, clad in black_  
_Don't look back and I love you_  
_You're dirty and sweet, oh yeah'_   Beth and Sarah sang starting at the exact same time, whilst MK and Helena joined in with the 'oohs' in the background.

 

 

Cosima let out a long sigh. All she knew was, thanks to Delphine and her bandmates, she was guaranteed to get _barely any_ sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you lot enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing.


	6. Last Minute Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band struggles to process the events from the night before. Sarah and Rachel (attempt to) rally their troops and Delphine pays a familiar friend a visit.

_‘It’s poetry in motion!’_

 

The all too familiar song rang out and Cosima shifted her head with a sigh, craning her neck to try and look for her glasses and her phone. Once she finally found her glasses after a good tap of the nightstand, she took a long look around the room. Somehow, she was in Felix’s loft of all places.

_What? I can’t remember coming here._

Cosima's eyes traced the floor, which was scattered with cans of red bull, beer and other mess the band had left the night before.

_What happened last night?_

All Cosima could remember was jamming out to Beth’s awesome tunes in the car last night, but something told her that there was something else that happened....

She slowly got up from Felix’s bed, releasing a defeated sigh as she scanned the room to see where on Earth the others were whilst answering her phone.

 

“Cosima! Get your lazy arse up!” Felix shouted from the other end of the line.

“Felix....what happened last night?” Cosima sighed and rubbed her temples, her forehead throbbing. 

“I don’t know, I wasn’t there.” The confusion in Felix’s voice showed and Cosima could feel her heartbeat begin to increase, almost falling over a step as she walked from Felix's bed to the chairs. “Where are you?”

“Uhh.......” Cosima looked around Felix’s loft, scared of admitting they were actually at his place that they trashed and ruined the night before. “We’re in the garage.”

“Already? Wow, you lot are on top form.” Felix replied, a surprised tone in his voice as he couldn't believe the band (Sarah in particular) were up before midday.

“Uhh.....yeah.”

“Right.” Felix's sudden tone of suspicion did not help ease Cosima's worries. “I’m at the shops, trying to organize your outfits for tonight.” _Oh no. Oh god no._ “I should be done in the next few hours, that’s if I don’t get side-tracked by anything.”

“Take as much time as you want Felix,” Cosima said as she almost tripped over a bucket of what seemed to be...... _punch?_

“Okay then Cosima, but we haven’t got all day and you should know that. Make the most of your time, I’ll see you soon.” Felix hung up on her and Cosima began to frown briefly before taking a good long look at the room. There was trash all over the kitchen, empty bottles of anything and everything, vodka, beer, iced tea....

Felix’s clothes were also scattered around the floor, his yellow jumper sat randomly on the couch until Cosima noticed there was a slight snore coming from underneath. She could recognize that snore from _anywhere._

“Beth?” Cosima whispered, hesitantly moving closer.

“Woah!” Beth shrieked, her eyes snapping open and she began to squirm. “Help! I can’t see anything!” She wriggled around, her arms flying in the air until Cosima finally put her out of her misery, removing the yellow sweater with a laugh.

“Cosima! I nearly crapped myself!” Beth shouted, and her hand instantly went to rub her head. “My head hurts.”

“So does mine," Cosima groaned as her head also throbbed. "Take a look around Beth.” Cosima sighed as she looked around the pigsty they made of Felix’s loft.

“What happened last night?” Beth stood up and it was then Cosima noticed that she was wearing a Glendale Community Theatre t-shirt that looked _very_ similar to Alison’s.

“We got hella drunk, that’s what.” Cosima pointed to the large bucket of punch in the middle of the room and 5 pillows all sat in a circle around it. They both frowned at the sight, trying to remember why on Earth there was a random grey bucket sat in the middle of the room with 5 straws in it.

“Uh, Cosima? What are you wearing?” Beth pointed to Cosima’s choice of clothes and began to giggle. “I thought you were getting rid of that?”

“Of what?"

Cosima looked at her sleeves and finally realized she was wearing her atrocious, fluffy sweater. Her _pining_ sweater.  
“Oh god, no.” Cosima shook her head, wishing the floor was quicksand to save herself from more embarrassment.

“Yep, we definitely got drunk last night.” Beth began to smirk. “I’m going to brush my teeth because my mouth tastes like death right now.” As Beth turned and walked off, it was then that Cosima saw what she was wearing on her lower half, or, instead, the lack of clothing on her lower half. And Cosima thought things were weird enough already, whilst she wore her _'pine'_ sweater, but as Beth walked off in Felix’s black arse-less chaps she couldn’t help but think Beth had drawn the short straw. As Cosima got more than enough of a glimpse of Beth’s backside, she turned around, not sure whether to laugh or throw up and silently cursed whoever’s idea it was to get this leathered the night before the gig.

“What the fuck?!” Beth shouted and Cosima instantly ran into the bathroom. Inside, Beth stood alarmed at seeing a dazed figure in the bathtub.

“Mika? What are you doing here?” Cosima began to laugh, her eyes fixed on MK who was wearing Felix’s kimono.

“Cosima? Beth?” MK slowly opened her eyes, a small smile on her face. “Is Krystal there with you?”

“Oh, crap.” Beth sighed and ran her hand through her hair and began to laugh and soon all of the girls began to laugh.

“My body hurts,” MK said, the smile still on her face and Beth and Cosima looked at each other with worried looks on their faces.

“Let’s get you out of there,” Beth said and motioned for Cosima to help push her out instead of standing at the doorframe laughing.

“3, 2, 1!” Cosima shouted and they both managed to get MK from the bathtub.

“Guys, I can’t stand up.” MK continued to smile happily and even hiccuped.

“Oh damn, come on Beth.” Cosima groaned as they moved MK to the couch, and she flopped down onto it. Beth and Cosima tried hard not to laugh at MK, who closed her eyes with a dreamy smile and held onto a nearby cushion.

“Where is Krystal? I want Krystal.” MK said as she cuddled the cushion.

“She’s not here, deal with it,” Beth said a bit harsher than she intended but MK didn’t show any offense. “She’ll be at the salon.”

“Can we go to the salon?” MK asked, a smirk growing on her face.

“No.” Beth shot back. “Look at this place! It’s a fucking mess!” As Beth turned around, slowly going out of her mind MK got more than an eyeful of her outfit and began to laugh to herself.  
“Why are you laughing? This is _not_ funny.”

“Try and find some humor Beth, it’s fucking hilarious.” Cosima broke down in giggles at the state of Beth, her messy hair all over the place and her face turned up into a grimace as she had no idea of how stupid she looked.

“Beth, your,” MK couldn’t finish her sentence as she was laughing so much and suddenly the metal door opened with a large rattle.

“What’s up guys? Oh god, Beth what the-“

“Sarah! This is your fault!” Beth snapped at Sarah, turning around and treating Cosima and MK to the extraordinary sight.

“Beth, just turn around for a minute,” Sarah walked over holding shopping bags, trying hard not to laugh, a big grin starting to appear on her face.

“Sarah stop being such an ass.”

“That’s a _bit rich_ coming from you Beth.” Sarah said laughing.

“Think you’re the one with the....ass.” Cosima covered her face laughing and Beth threw a cushion at her.

“You seen your _arse_ Beth?” Sarah chuckled as Beth was turned to Cosima and Sarah got a good view.

“Yes, isn’t it obvious? I’m very angry if you can’t already tell.” Beth fumed.

“No I mean, have you actually seen your arse?” Sarah replied, very close to rolling on the floor laughing.

“What? No, why?” Beth frowned.

“Do a twirl in the mirror then.” Sarah grinned as she led Beth to Felix’s tall mirror.

“Oh my god, no.” Beth gasped and her eyes widened as she saw what she was wearing, her face becoming redder by the second. “What the actual.” Beth turned around. “ _Aaaaah!_ ”

“Couldn’t you feel the leather against your skin?” Cosima questioned whilst Beth wished that she was wearing an invisibility cloak, as she saw her own bare arse in the mirror.

“Real question is, isn’t it cold down there?” Sarah joked as she continued to cackle as Beth stood awkwardly, still looking at herself in the mirror.

“I don’t know, I didn’t even think about it.” Beth shrugged, confusion on her face as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror.

“How could you not know you were wearing ass-less chaps, Beth?” Cosima said, not without rolling her eyes. 

“I bet Alison will love the leather look,” MK winked and Sarah got her phone out to snap a few pictures.

“These are going on S’ fridge. Can you turn around so I can capture the full moon?” Sarah asked.

“Sarah, don’t you dare,” Beth growled.

“ _Alison’s bitch,_ ” Sarah whispered with a smile as she took some more pictures. “Maybe I should send this to her?”

“Sarah my life will be over if you do that,” Beth begged. “Please don’t.”

“Okay, I’m not that mean. But if you ever threaten to leave the band I can use this as leverage.” Sarah said with a childish grin.

“Fine. I need to take these off.” Beth began to undo the zip.

“Woah! No! We don’t need to see that Beth.” Cosima complained as she covered her eyes whilst Sarah stood there with a smirk.

“Dunno why you’re complaining Cos, you love it.” Sarah shook her head and Cosima rolled her eyes.

"What did you slip into our drinks to make us like this last night Sarah?!?" Cosima spat at Sarah, her hands waving in the air.

"Like I'd put somethin' into your drinks. Stop talkin' a load of _arse_ , Cos. Already bad enough with Beth here." Sarah chuckled, shaking her head and Beth gave her a slap on the arm.

“Yeah what did happen last night Sarah? You seem perfectly fine.” Beth asked and thankfully didn’t take off the chaps, much to Cosima's delight, but awkwardly smoothed out the creases.

“It's 'cause I'm not a lightweight like all you gonks. And we all got absolutely _rat-arsed_ , quite literally,” Sarah giggled as she took a sneak peek at Beth’s behind again.

“No shit Sherlock.” MK coughed and everyone’s eyebrows raised.

"You gonna do us a strip-tease Beth?" Sarah smirked as she stood behind Beth and slapped her ass. " _Unleash the peach?_ "

"No way, you asshole." Beth retorted, pushing Sarah away who carried on laughing.

“Can we stop talking about _ass_ and _ass-related matters_ please?” Cosima groaned, becoming quite tired of all the toilet-talk that always seemed to make an appearance whenever they were all together.

“Shut up Alison.” Sarah joked and Beth shot her a glance before turning to MK, who just smiled and lazily stared off into the distance.

“Mika, are you still drunk?” Beth asked with concern. MK was now stood with her crutches, wearing a smile.

“A little.”

“She’d have to be to stand right next to your _exposed arse cheeks_ Beth.”

“She can’t move well Sarah, She’s broken her ankle.” Beth groaned. “I love how everyone goes on about me in these and no one mentions Mika in Felix’s kimono,” Beth said as she looked at MK, who gave her a smile.

“Stop trying to change the convo Beth, you bumhead.” Sarah replied and MK laughed but soon stopped, a horrible sensation building in her throat.

"Sarah why are you so obsessed with ass? It's hella weird." Cosima snapped whilst MK slowly became even greener.

"It's a well-known fact I'm an arseman, Cos, unlike all you tit-heads." Sarah snapped back and MK began to stagger on her crutches.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” MK announced and everyone rushed her to the toilet. As the group worried whether MK may or may not have alcohol poisoning, Sarah began to frown.

 

“Where’s Helena?” 

 

* * *

 

Elsewhere, Delphine walked along the street, following her fellow bandmates as Rachel dragged them out to the city to prepare for the concert.

“Okay, everyone.” Rachel came to a stop outside a large department store. “I will go and pick up the costumes we are going to be wearing tonight.”

“The costumes?” Paul spoke up, slightly confused. “Are we going to be dressed as superheroes?” He said with a smile.

“No Paul. Carry on being idiotic and I will find a replacement.” Rachel replied in an icy tone and Paul kept quiet, slightly disappointed he wouldn't be able to dress up as Captain America or Iron Man. "I am choosing our choice of clothes.”

“I hope it’s fancy dress.” Marion Bowles chatted wearing a smile as she nudged Delphine. Rachel just blinked at everyone, wondering how on Earth she was lumbered with a band so nerdy it made Sarah’s band, 'The Doodles' look cool.

“I do not have time for this. Delphine, walk with me for a while.” Rachel dismissed the other band members who stood with confused looks on their faces whilst Delphine caught up to Rachel with a worried look on her face.

“Is everything ok Rachel?” Delphine asked with hesitance, not wanting to get on the wrong side of Rachel.

“Yes, why?” Rachel replied, as cool as a cucumber.

“Nothing, you just seem a bit annoyed.”

“I just want everything to be perfect for tonight. I am not in the mood for any games.” Rachel muttered as she briefly eyed the expensive dresses in the store, almost identical to the ones she wore before shaking her head and walking away, and Delphine walked after her like a lost puppy.

“What kind of games?”

“Games that include annoying fellow bandmates and embarrassing late-night voicemails.” Rachel huffed as they both looked around the department store, Rachel gravitating towards the eyeliner section of the make-up department.

“What kind of voicemails?” Delphine was aware that she was probably asking too many questions and most likely irking Rachel, but she really needed to know that anything she did hasn't affected her.

“Stupid ones.” Rachel thought to herself, remembering the countless amounts of voicemails Sarah left the night prior, many of them including her laughing down the phone but another one that Rachel couldn’t get out of her memory, making her feel a certain way. “I do not like _liars_ , Delphine.” Rachel paused, choosing her words. Delphine’s heartbeat began to increase. _Has she found out about me and Cosima?_ “Which is why I need you to tell me.”

“Tell you what?” Delphine replied, her cheeks turning red and she began to avoid eye contact.

“Am I a horrible person?” Rachel said randomly and Delphine was confused although relieved it was nothing to do with Cosima.

“No, well, you’re not horrible with me.” Delphine wanted to be honest. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Rachel replied with a sigh as she looked at the different lipsticks and other make-ups on offer. “Do you think I’m worthy of love?”

“Everyone is worthy of love Rachel,” Delphine reassured Rachel with a smile, who still stood there feeling confused and tried to smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Delphine and Rachel continued to walk around the shop in silence until Rachel saw a large window, which she stood and stared out of for quite a while. Delphine, stood by her side, looked at her watch and was left feeling awkward. “Rachel, I have an appointment at the salon. I’ll see you later, yes?”

“That’s fine. Bye, Delphine.” Rachel responded, still staring out of the window with a vacant expression and Delphine waved as she left, but kept her head down as she walked past the window Rachel was still staring out of. _That was close, Delphine. What if Rachel had found out? Imagine the trouble I’d be in._ Delphine tried not to think of Rachel as she walked and instead smiled at the fact she was going to see one of her friends, her smile increasing as she walked into the salon and was sat down by her best friend.

 

  
“Delphine! It’s nice to see you!” Krystal grinned as she sat opposite Delphine.

“Krystal! It’s great to see you too.” Delphine returned the smile, always feeling happy when she’s around Krystal.

“Where have you been girl? I’ve missed you.” Krystal got up to give Delphine a hug which Delphine gladly accepted.

“I’ve been very occupied lately,” Delphine smiled and they both sat back down.

“Ooh, I should’ve known. Your nails are short,” Krystal gave Delphine a wink. “Spill the beans, who’s the lucky girl?”

“I’ve been practicing with my band lately, however, there is a woman that I am going to be seeing soon, hopefully,” Delphine replied and Krystal listened to each word, eager to know who’s been making Delphine glow brighter than usual.

“You have a band too?” Krystal gasped and put down her nail file briefly. “What is it with hot girls being in bands?”

“I don’t know,” Delphine blushed. “I have exactly the same question.”

“Wait, you like a girl in a band too?” A big smirk appeared on Krystal’s face. “Oh girl, you gotta spill now.”

“Not before you tell me yours.” Delphine bit her lip with a smile.

“Well, she’s so hot and she’s really smart. Like, she could hack the _government_ if she wanted to.” Krystal gushed about her romantic interest, filing Delphine’s nails as she blushed. “And she’s so funny and cute, she can make me laugh like no one else can.” Krystal sighed contentedly and stared into the distance with a smile. “I can talk to her about anything. She makes me really happy.”

“That’s incredible Krystal. I’m so happy for you.” Delphine said with a toothy grin, happy to listen and watch Krystal swoon over this mystery girl.

“Anyways, one of the hottest things is is that she plays drums in a band. Like, the drums. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that is.” Krystal once again stopped filing Delphine’s nails to talk about the girl. “How hard is it?”

“Quite hard, but if you know what you’re doing, it’s easy.” Delphine reasoned, not being one to blow her own trumpet.

“I bet she knows what she’s doing all right. She can bang me all night long.” Krystal whispered. Delphine began to laugh and soon did Krystal. “God, I bet I sound _so_ stupid.”

“Not at all, it's really nice that you’ve found someone right for you.”

“Thank you, Delphine.“ Krystal was very grateful for Delphine's support, happy to have someone to vent to who wasn't a customer. “She’s not like all the others. She cares about me and there are no other girls.” Krystal smiled, thrilled at the prospect of being her only girl instead of the previous open relationship she'd been in with Hector.

“That’s wonderful.” Delphine was glad Krystal had found someone trustworthy after a lot of bad luck in relationships beforehand.

“Anyways, her band are playing tonight at Bobby’s Bar in some sort of Battle Of The Bands thing.” Krystal continued to file, not noticing Delphine's emerging smile as she realized who it was that Krystal couldn't stop talking about.

“I know.” Delphine paused. “I’m playing.”

“You’re in the other band?” Krystal replied with surprise, her eyes widening.

“Yes,” Delphine giggled, anticipating Krystal’s likely answer.

“Right. Okay, no offense Delphine, you mean the world to me but I hope your band loses, that’s all I’m saying.” Krystal laughed, but then her smile disappeared. “But I also want you to win. God dammit.”

“It’s fine Krystal,” Delphine said, looking at Krystal reassuringly. “I hope we lose too.”

“That’s good.” Krystal began to smile again before she stopped filing Delphine’s nails. “Wait what?”

“Yes, I do not want to win.”

“Oh my god, you like someone in The Doodles? If you say it’s Mika you can-“

“No, she does not play drums.”

“Thank goodness for that! I’d hate to get my claws out on you,” Krystal smiled but her expression soon changed. “But seriously, if anyone tried it on with my Mika I will cut that bitch.”

“I know you would Krystal.” Delphine winked. “No, she is not Mika.”

“Please don’t say it’s Sarah, the lead singer. She’s got such an attitude, you can do so much better. Plus she’s like a 7 on a good day.” Krystal scoffed, not without an eye roll as she thought of Sarah, the loud and boisterous front-woman. "Mika's a 10 even on a bad day."

“No, it’s not Sarah.” Delphine giggled as she thought of the gobby Brit she had last seen shouting at the parking officer a few days ago.

“Good. She needs a good hair wash. Now let’s see.......it’s not Beth, the bass player is it? She seems really friendly and she’s great with Mika.” Krystal suggested.

“No, not Beth either.” Delphine smiled before she finally admitted. “It’s Cosima.”

“The lead guitar player?” Krystal’s eyebrows raised. Delphine tried hard to hide her blush. “Ooh, you have it bad.”

“Yes, I really do,” Delphine admitted but enjoyed the idea of being with Cosima, and also being around her, even if it is only just stolen glances from other ends of the room.

“I bet she has fast fingers.” Krystal winked and Delphine was brought back to the night before. She wished she could’ve experienced what it would’ve been like but then she remembered how she had to dash because something had happened to one of the other band members. _Wait, was it Mika that was hurt?_ Delphine was sure she heard Cosima mentioning Mika, and wondered whether Krystal knew. 

“Yeah. Krystal, I need to tell you something, but don’t get worried.” Delphine said hesitantly and Krystal stopped manicuring, instead leaning up in her seat, worry on her face.

“What’s wrong? Am I talking too much?”

“No of course not, you know I love talking to you. It’s about Mika.”

“Wait, Mika?” Krystal’s voice increased in pitch. “What’s up with her? Is she okay? Has something bad happened?”

“Nothing bad has happened-“

“She left me a load of voicemails last night, she sounded drunk and that’s worrying because she doesn’t usually drink. Is she having her stomach pumped? Because if she is, I’m getting out of here _right now_.” Krystal spoke fast and leaned to get her handbag.

“No, she’s fine. She had a bit of an accident the other night though.” Delphine replied. “Cosima said she broke her ankle.”

“Oh no, my baby.” Krystal gasped with a pout, putting a hand on her heart dramatically.

“She’s okay now Krystal, apparently she hurt it whilst ice skating.”

“Ice skating?” Krystal began to blush. “Aww, she must’ve been practicing for when we go. We were meant to be going tonight, on our first date but then this band thing happened.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Delphine felt a bit guilty that she had partly prevented Krystal and Mika from going on their date.

“It’s okay, I’m just worried about her.” Krystal sighed, her fingers nervously fiddling with her hair. “I thought something was up last night. She kept saying she needed a nurse on the phone.”

Delphine wondered about Cosima and whether she drank a lot last night, and worried about the state her and the rest of her band will likely be in this morning. Delphine and Krystal sat in silence for a few moments, not knowing that Cosima was currently patting MK’s back as she vomited into Felix’s toilet bowl. 

“I have an idea. It’s a bit silly but it might be really hot.” Krystal began to bite her lip as she continued giving Delphine her manicure. “Will you wait until I go on my lunch break and we could go somewhere?”

“Where do you want to go?” Delphine replied with curiosity.

“Uhm....” Krystal looked around before leaning in to whisper to Delphine. “The fancy dress shop.”

“Yes, of course.” Delphine winked and began to smirk. She didn’t know what it was today with people mentioning fancy dress.

“Thank you,” Krystal whispered with a smile on her face. “I need to go to the convenience store too.”

“What do you need?”

“Some iced tea, cherries and whipped cream.”

“That’s random, but I could also do with some whipped cream too.” Delphine winked and they fell back into normal conversation again, both relieved to see each other and get things off their chests.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Back at Felix’s loft, MK was still throwing up every 10 minutes whilst Cosima patted her back, and Sarah and Beth were in the lounge, shouting at each other whilst cleaning up the mess, or, Beth was cleaning and Sarah was stood shaking her head.

 

“Where the fuck is Helena?!” Sarah shouted before leaving Helena yet another voicemail. “Helena, it’s Sarah here. Please pick up the phone meathead. I’m worried about you.”

“It’s Sarah here,” Beth said in a bad British accent imitating Sarah, a smirk on her face as she put a crushed can of red bull in a bin bag.

“Shut the fuck up Beth and please don’t bend over in front of me.” Sarah covered her eyes as Beth bent down again.

“That’s it, I need to get out of these.” Beth turned around and took off her chaps, looking for some pants.

“Beth, get back to cleaning.” 

“No, why don’t you?” Beth unzipped the chaps and they fell down, and Sarah looked the other way.

“I’m busy trying to get Helena back.” Sarah argued.

“Let me cover my ass for once, Sarah.” Beth looked for some underwear and settled on putting on some of Felix’s clothes as she couldn’t find hers.

“Fuck knows how you managed to fit in them chaps Beth, he’s got legs like pipe cleaners,” Sarah commented as she shook her head, still not believing how Beth managed to fit inside the chaps.

“I know, they felt really tight. Especially in _that_ area.” Beth grunted as she zipped up an old pair of jeans she found lying around. Luckily, these were actually socially-acceptable and not too tight. 

“Okay, too much info,” Cosima said, walking back in with MK hobbling behind her.

“Mika, are you feeling better?” Sarah asked with concern as she took in MK's pale face. 

“A little, but I still feel very crap.” MK sighed.

“Here, come and rest,” Cosima said leading MK to the couch and she elevated her foot for her. “Sarah, we need answers. Can you remember what happened last night?”

“Yes,” Sarah answered, folding her arms. “What do ya take me for? I’m not a lightweight like you clowns.”

“We could’ve guessed already Sarah.” Beth sighed. “What embarrassing shit did we do?”

“We rehearsed for a bit and then gave up, sat around that bucket, cried for a bit about lasses, drank a hell of a lot of booze, danced around for a bit, pigged out at Fungs’,”

“Didn’t we have confession time at the bucket?” MK thought out loud, and everyone turned to her, surprised she could remember anything.

“Ah shite, yeah.” Sarah rubbed her forehead, getting flashbacks of the night before.

 

 

* * *

 

* * *

 

_‘I’ve got to tell you guys something.’ Sarah admitted as she swirled her straw. ‘I think I’ve fallen in love with Rachel.’_

_‘You’ve fallen for the ice queen?’ Beth replied with surprise._

_‘Yeah,’ she took a large sip. ‘An’ I bloody hate myself for it, ‘cause she shows nothing. She doesn’t feel anything.’_

_‘I know how you feel Sarah,’ Beth said with a long sigh. ‘I love Ali.’_

_‘We all know that Beth. You deserve a medal for putting up with that.’_

_‘She just builds me up and makes me think she likes me before she just lets me down again.’ Beth continued to pine over Alison. ‘One minute she wants to see me then the next she avoids me like the plague.’_

_‘Why do you build me up buttercup baby just to let me down!’ Helena began to sing_ _and hiccuped after she took a long drink out of the punch bowl._

_‘And mess me around!’ MK sang, a giddy look on her face. ‘What’s the rest of the lyrics?’_

_‘I dunno,’ Sarah said as she contemplated her relationship with Rachel (if she could even call it that) and where they’d go from here. ‘I feel lost.’_

_‘Do not worry sestra, I have a map.’ Helena smiled, wiggling her eyebrows and playfully nudging into Sarah, who began to smile. ‘Why ride an overworked car when you can sit with your sestras and enjoy the magnificent fruits.’_

_‘Rachel’s an overworked car?’ Beth said before laughing._

_‘I bet she’s had more pricks than a second-han’ dartboard.’ Sarah joked although she didn’t really mean it._

_‘You being one of them.’ Cosima remarked and everyone burst into laughter._

* * *

 

* * *

 

 

Sarah was interrupted from her musings by the door being slid open.

 

“Shit, hurry up!” Sarah spluttered, grabbing a bin bag from Beth and dashing to pick up the rest of the trash.

“Bit late for that isn’t it?” Beth said as she shook her head, standing still. As the door opened, Helena walked in, carrying shopping bags.

“Hello sestras, hope you are all having a pleasant day,” Helena said with a smile, looking unaffected from last nights binging and dropped the bags on the floor. Sarah was _very_ thankful to see Helena rather than Felix. The band never felt complete unless Helena was there. 

“Where have you been Helena!” Sarah ran up to Helena and gave her a hug. “I’ve been worried about you.”

“I have been busy shopping. I got the things on the list.”

“List? What list.” Beth piped up, walking over.

“Here are the requests,” Helena pulled out a long list from her parka pocket and everyone else looked at each other with concerned faces. “5 boxes of Eskimo Pie, a blow-up doll for Beth,” Beth’s eyes widened and Cosima and MK began to giggle. “A Barbie doll for Mika,” MK stopped giggling to smile, instantly thinking of Krystal. “Ten bottles of iced tea,” Sarah could almost hear her bank account crying. “A pair of pink handcuffs, a dog collar,” Beth now began to laugh and Sarah wanted so badly to be sucked into a vortex. “A feather tickler,” Sarah couldn’t begin to imagine the looks Helena would’ve received when purchasing the items.

“Is that everything Helena?” Beth said and tried to hold herself back from laughing.

“Yes, I tried to look for the tartan paint but I could not find it.” Helena sighed and Beth stood with furrowed brows whilst Cosima tried hard not to laugh. Why they all sent Helena on random and foolish errors was beyond her, but Cosima reckoned they must've been _hella drunk_ and were not expecting Helena to remember or take them seriously. “But sestra Sarah do not worry I have something else.” Sarah stood with her mouth agape and Helena clapped her hands as she turned to the door. “Ladies!”

In walked 3 girls, stood in French maid outfits complete with feather dusters. “Cosima said she wanted a French maid and I figured we could use cleaners.”

“Uhh, Helena, they’re not here to clean,” Sarah replied and her eyes widened as she ogled the attractive women stood before her. Everyone's jaws dropped (except Helena's) and MK could almost feel herself struggling to stand up as one of the 'cleaners' gave her a wave and a wink. She awkwardly looked away, her cheeks turning hot red and wished she wasn't on crutches so she could run away to the salon to see Krystal as right now, she felt scared. She was even more scared to think what Krystal's reaction would be.

Sarah was not really fussed, actually enjoying the view, even though she was mad at Helena for potentially spending her money. If she used Beth's, she could always just brush it under the carpet. 

“Which one of you here’s Cosima?” One of the girls asked. “Apparently she’s been a _naughty_ girl.”

Cosima stood in shock, her eyes flicking between an innocently smiling Helena and a very attractive woman in a French maid outfit.

“Oh yikes.” Cosima yelped.

 

At possibly the _worst_ time, Felix decided to show his face.

  
“What is going on?!” Felix shouted, instantly dropping his shopping bags, not knowing what was worse - the fact his room was trashed, the band had broken in or the fact there were 3 girls who were most likely _sex workers_ stood in front of him. “I can’t believe this. Why are they not male?” Felix responded and Sarah began to feel even more confused than she already had done.

“Are you ignoring the fact we’ve totally trashed your loft?” Beth asked, stood with gritted teeth as she took in the mess that surrounded them.

“No, I’ll get to that later,” Felix replied calmly, shocking everyone. "I make more of a mess when I do my art." When things couldn’t get any more awkward, Mrs S walked in.

“Hello loves! Oh? Who are these?” Mrs S said with shock, looking at the hired girls. “Kira, cover your eyes love.” Kira was now stood by Mrs S’ side, covering her eyes as Mrs S held onto her shoulder, a worried look on her face.

  
“Oh shite.” Sarah groaned and everyone awkwardly stared at each other, Helena bouncing and waving at Kira whilst Sarah shared an awkward look with Mrs S and Felix. Beth was just glad she had got out of them chaps before they came around, but didn't miss Felix's frown as he saw his chaps on the floor, about to speak up until MK covered for her. 

"They fell, from," MK started, but couldn't finish her sentence.

"How can they fall?" Felix asked, which made MK nervous. Mrs S began to smirk. 

 

After a very awkward talk and a _long_ clean, the loft was finally back to normal, Mrs S and Kira went home and the girls were paid.

  
“Helena, who’s card did you use?” Sarah asked, secretly hoping that it wasn't hers.

“Beth’s,” Helena spoke, looking at Beth who turned around in surprise. “You said I could use it.”

“Oh crap.” Beth sighed. “None of you can tell Ali about this, ever.”

“Speaking of Alison,” Felix piped up. “The band merchandise is in her garage. If we want to make some extra cash tonight we could do with getting that, which means Beth.....”

“No, I can’t go over there," Beth said as she paced around the room. “She doesn’t want to see me.”

“I think she’ll be more pleased to see you than to see me.” Sarah joked.

 

* * *

 

 

An hour later, Beth finally gathered the courage to drive around to Alison’s house and knocked on her door.

 

“Beth, why are you here?” Alison quipped, her voice sounding irritated, holding an electric screwdriver and wearing safety goggles. “I’d rather see Sarah than you right now.”

“Please Ali, just hear me out.” Beth pleaded, her hand on the doorframe. Alison stood and stared angrily at Beth.

“No Elizabeth, you hear me out." Alison folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. "I'm _very_ angry at you Beth. Why have you been avoiding all my calls and messages?”

“Sarah said there’s a no-contact rule, I thought Aynsley told you all of this anyway.” Beth pointed out and Alison wished she wouldn't bring Aynsley into this (even though she kind of already did.)

“She did, but that’s not the point,” Alison replied, giving a death glare and Beth tried hard not to laugh, covering her grin with her hand. “The point is Beth, is why should I be listening to you now when you’ve been ignoring me for the past week?” 

“Because I’ve been longing to talk to you all week Ali. I’ve been missing you like hell and I can’t do anything about it. It’s been driving me nuts.” Beth wasn’t a groveller but she knew it was either Alison’s way or the highway. “I miss being around you, and once all this ends I want to make it up to you.”

“How?” Alison said, her voice a bit softer now but still keeping that sharp edge.

“I’ll take you to wherever you want to go, I won’t leave your side for a week, I’ll go with you to that lame musical where they sing each line throughout the whole damn thing-“

“You mean Les Miserables?” Alison said a bit offended Beth would call it lame.

“Yeah,” Beth answered awkwardly, rubbing her neck.

“That’s so sweet, but there’s more work to do.” Alison began to smile but soon tutted. “Also, what is with the countless amounts of voicemails I got last night?”

“Uhh-“

“Were you drunk? Were you all over girls in the club? Answer me, Beth!” Alison shouted, waving her screwdriver and Beth took a step back.

“Woah, calm down Ali. Yes, I was drunk, but there are no other girls. Just me and the band, that’s it.” Beth held both of her hands up, scared although weirdly turned on when Alison took a step towards her, the electric screwdriver aimed close towards her neck. 

“Okay." Alison paused and Beth released the breath she was holding. "Just listen to this!” Alison dramatically whipped out her phone and pressed play whilst Beth frowned.

 

 _‘Just call my name; I'll be there in a hurry_  
_You don't have to worry,_  
_Oh baby there ain't no mountain high enough,’_

 

Alison waved her phone in Beth’s face, and Beth was forced to listen to herself drunk-singing to Alison, with the occasional hiccup and Sarah’s laughter audible in the background.

“Is this a joke? Why are you smiling?” Alison exploded, her face becoming red with anger whilst Beth laughed at her reaction (and Helena's wheezing noises also heard in the background.)

“It was funny Ali. I sang that song for you and I meant every word.” Beth reasoned, actually quietly surprised at her vocals even when she was inebriated. If Alison sang to her in a voicemail, she'd find it flattering. She just wished Alison would see it the same way.

“That’s funny, I can’t remember you running to me at all this week when I wanted you.” Alison folded her arms, whilst Beth stood with confusion and disbelief evident on her face.

“You wanted me?” Beth whispered, not believing that Alison Hendrix would ever depend on, or want her, ever. _Alison Hendrix, the fierce, suburban goddess that carries a can of pepper spray in her handbag. Alison Hendrix, the proud, independent woman who even had the balls to give Sarah a good tongue-lashing and wouldn't hesitate to give her a whack over the head. Alison Hendrix, the light of my life. Alison Hendrix, the woman who is so out of my league, finally wanting me for a change._

“Yes.” Alison huffed and tried to change the subject, picking up on Beth's dazed smile as she tried to avoid her eyes. “I assume you want these boxes of merchandise?”

Alison led Beth into the garage and helped her carry the boxes whilst Beth remained speechless, silently putting them into her car and then returning to Alison’s doorstep once again.

  
“Beth, is that my shirt?” Alison pointed to the Glendale Community Theatre t-shirt Beth was still wearing.

“Oh, yeah. Do you want it? Cause I can take it off,” Beth began to lift the t-shirt and Alison stopped her, her eyes widening. 

“No! It’s fine! It’s absolutely fine!” Alison rubbed her neck as she stared at Beth’s exposed abs and looked at the floor.

“Ali, did you mean what you said before?” Beth stopped lifting her shirt and instead stared at Alison.

“What?” Alison pretended not to know what Beth was on about, looking at the floor and avoiding Beth's piercing stare, almost imagining hearing Beth bragging about it with the band later.

“That you wanted me?” 

There was a short silence until Alison nodded.

  
“Yes, I wouldn’t lie to you Beth,” Beth moved closer to Alison. “But I wish you’d stop asking for clarification.” Alison blushed.

“I wanted you too,” Beth whispered as she slinked her fingers through Alison’s belt loops, pulling her closer. “More than you’d ever know”

“Beth, what are you doing? I am armed!” Alison’s breath hitched in her throat and she lifted up her electric screwdriver in the air. Beth’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Alison, and Alison could feel her hot breath against her neck.

"Mmm?"

“Beth,” Alison soon gave in when she realized Beth wasn't wanting to stop and held back a moan when Beth continued to moan against her neck, the deepness of her voice sending vibrations all through her body. "Beth, why are you-"

“Just relax Ali. I’m here now.” Beth cooed with a smile as she leaned back,  her eyes darting to Alison’s lips.

“No Beth, you can’t just come here and ruin everything!" Alison whispered, not feeling particularly angry, just frustrated. _Sexually._

“Ruin what?” Beth’s lips hovered closer to Alison’s, now only just inches away.

“You can’t sweep in and leave me like a mess. I refuse that.” Alison tried to put her guard up again but as always Beth Childs swoops in and breaks down all of her defenses. 

“Really?” Beth began to smirk. “You’re not backing away Ali.”

“I am now!” Alison said, feeling even more flustered. “Please Beth, stop being so....”

“Attractive? Irresistible?” Beth guessed, her smirk increasing in size.

“No, childish and immature.” Alison sighed. “I don’t like you playing with my feelings. I don’t like you going cold on me and then coming here and being..... _holy fishsticks_.” Beth's hands moved from Alison's belt loops to around her back and underneath her shirt, her cold hands causing the hairs to rise up on Alison's back. 

“Being....holy fishsticks?” Beth continued to smirk.

“You know what I mean.” Alison moaned, trying to recompose herself and ignore the warm feelings in her body. “Don’t play games with me, Beth. You have games consoles at home.” Beth withdrew her hands from Alison, who began to miss Beth's cold hands on her back but did not show it as she tried to shut the door on Beth.

“Alison wait!” Beth shouted and Alison stopped. “Are you going to come and watch tonight?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Alison played it off, deep down knowing that she wouldn't miss seeing a bouncing Beth on stage for the world.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Beth winked, not without flashing her canines that always seemed to make Alison wonder how she'd ever been mad at her. 

“Mika, Cosima, and Helena are there Beth,” Alison replied, hiding the fact the star of the show is and always will be bassist Beth Childs. Beth tried hard not to laugh at how she didn’t include Sarah. “Now, I have some construction work to do, so go home.”

“What are you building?” Beth tried to extend the conversation but Alison was having none of it, making a tutting noise and shaking her electric screwdriver. Beth smiled at Alison and wondered how the _heck_  had she been so brave to touch Alison when she was holding the potentially-lethal screwdriver in her hands. 

“A shed. I needed to occupy myself since you haven’t been around. Goodbye Beth.” Alison dismissed and lightly pushed an approaching Beth, feeling a bit guilty when she saw the disappointment in her eyes. 

“Bye Ali.” Beth sighed and walked off, and Alison watched as Beth got in her car and drove away, her fingers beginning to play with her necklace. After staring at Beth's car leaving, silently hoping she'd turn around and drive back, she shut the door, her brain still not processing any of the events that had happened. Once back outside, near to where she was attempting to build her shed, Alison angrily shoved a plank of wood into the air and watched as it landed halfway across the garden.

“Holy freaking Christmas cake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Cause everyone needs more Beth Childs in their life.
> 
> As always, a BIG thank you for the kudos, comments and support all of you give. It's really awesome, thank you. It makes me happy knowing people are enjoying this story. Next chapter will be where the pure drama kicks in and it will be full of action and fun, as always.


	7. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally the night of the Battle of the Bands performance and to say Cosima is nervous would be an understatement.

After a well-needed nap, The Doodles got to practicing for that night's battle of the bands, with Cosima, Beth, and MK popping painkillers for their mighty headaches thanks to last nights’ bender. Whilst Sarah and Helena jumped around, with even more energy than usual. Cosima could feel her head feeling like it could explode as she stood too close to the amps, her head thumping louder than MK’s spontaneous drum fills.

 

“Guys, can we have time out?!” Cosima shouted over the noise as they performed a quick soundcheck at Bobby’s Bar that afternoon.

“Okay, Everyone!” Sarah shouted and everyone began to stop. Helena continued to dance and shake her maracas to no music whilst Beth and MK looked on with amused smiles. “Cos what the bloody hells wrong with ya?! You’ve been shitty all day!”

“I’ve got a headache that wrecks and a major freakin’ hangover Sarah,” Cosima complained as she rubbed her temples, Sarah’s loud voice not helping her throbbing head either.

“So have MK and Beth, you don’t hear them complaining!”

“I’m just glad my butt is clothed,” Beth said with a long, tired sigh.

“I can’t even hear anything back here,” MK sighed just as Beth did.

“Good job Mika. Keep up the good work yeah?” Sarah smiled and gave her a thumbs up whilst Cosima rolled her eyes.

“Actually guys this was only supposed to be a sound check and you’ve been here for the past hour,” Bobby stated as she walked over, her arms folded. 

“Sorry, we just can’t help ourselves, Bobby,” Sarah walked to the edge of the stage and sat down, a smile on her face as she tried to charm Bobby. “The sound is great and the atmosphere is even better.”

“Sarah please,” Bobby rolled her eyes with a smirk. “Your band needs some respite.”

“Oh, they got plenty of that last night.” Sarah smirked whilst the other members groaned.

“I wouldn’t call it respite Sarah,” Cosima said as she began to unplug her guitar. “I feel even worse now than I did before.”

“You know what they say, the best way to cure a hangover is to carry on drinking,” Sarah said as kept the same shit-eating smirk on her face. “Speakin’ of which, Bobby-“

“Bars closed.” Bobby giggled. Beth, MK and Cosima’s laughs were heard in the background and Helena began to sulk as she was craving some peanuts right now.

“Ya wha’?”

“I’m not having you guys trashed before the performance. Don’t tell the other band, but I like you guys more.” Bobby winked.

“Alrigh’ then, who’s the best member?” Sarah asked, a smirk on her face as she brushed the imaginary dust from her leather jacket and stuck up her collar.

“That’s hard....” Bobby stared at the band members. “I love the solos Cosima does...” Cosima began to smile. “But I really love Beth’s bass-lines.” Beth began to smirk and winked at Cosima. “Also, she has the voice of an angel.”

“What about me?!” Sarah shouted.

“However, so does Mika...” Bobby smiled at MK who blushed as she hid behind the drum kit. “I love Helena’s dance moves.” Helena gave Bobby a little bow and Sarah couldn’t believe why Bobby wasn’t giving her any praise. “And yes Sarah, you look and sound very bad-ass.”

“I was waitin’ for that comment.” Sarah’s smirk reappeared. “Saved the best ‘til last?”

“I love all of you guys, but the one I love a tiny bit more is Mika.” Bobby smiled and gave MK a wave. MK’s face went a deep red yet again and she twirled her drumsticks.

“Thank you, Bobby.” MK replied with a shy smile on her face, still in disbelief to how she was Bobby’s favorite.

“Aww, that’s really sweet. I’m not even mad.” Beth beamed as she took a long glance at MK.

“Me neither.” Cosima grinned.

“Me neither,” Sarah joined in. Mika deserved it - she was a little drumming machine, and to be able to add in some backing vocals whilst playing some fast and complex beats was no easy task which she had nailed.

“Yeah, she’s really cute when she’s playing and she sticks her tongue out. Ooh, and when she closes her eyes when she’s into it,” Bobby smiled and MK felt embarrassed again. “Not to mention when she makes eye contact with the rest of the band and plays face-offs with them. _God,_ I could just take you home Mika!”

“Watch out Mika you got a super fan!” Cosima cheered.

“She’s _my_ sheepy.” Helena threatened and Bobby laughed.

“Too bad you can’t take her home, she’s actually taken.” Sarah piped up and Bobby's smile faded slightly. 

“Whoever the girl is, she’s very lucky.” Bobby nodded.

“I’d say I was the lucky one.” MK smiled and Beth and Cosima looked at each other with big grins. Sarah rolled her eyes.

“Enough drooling, let’s get this shite packed up,” Sarah huffed and unplugged her guitar, walking off the stage, not waiting for the others. Beth and Cosima looked at each other with confusion and MK hoped she hadn’t done anything to upset her. Even Helena was beginning to get worried, not dancing and shaking her maracas for once and instead staring at a moody-looking Sarah pack her guitar and wait for everyone else to do so.

 

Once the rest of the band got their stuff packed up, they all said their thanks to Bobby.  
“See you later guys!” She smiled.

 

They all jammed themselves into Sarah’s car and the atmosphere was very tense. Sarah was unusually silent, and this caused everyone else to be, the others often sharing worried looks as Sarah drove with a grimace. It was a far cry from last night when they all sang along to Bohemian Rhapsody. Beth’s ‘You’re Damn Right’ mixtape still played quietly in the background although it was covered up by Helena’s light snores.  
“Is she okay?” Cosima whispered to Beth, who was almost falling asleep.

“I don’t know,” Beth replied, her eyes meeting Sarah’s in the rear-view mirror and she embarrassedly looked away, instead deciding to watch MK draw skulls and crossbones on the fogged up window.

Cosima sighed as she stared out of the window. _This sucks._

Feeling bored, she pulled out her phone to check if she had any new messages, not surprised to be seeing none. Her thumb hovered over Delphine’s name. _Should I talk to her? Should I wait?_

  
Cosima regretfully puts her phone into her pocket instead, figuring contacting her would just be more hassle.

 

 

She knew that they had some unresolved issue from the night prior, although she couldn’t remember from the life of her what it was. The heavy drinking in such a short space of time _(and weed, and quite possibly other stuff too if Sarah wasn't being truthful about not slipping anything into the drinks)_ had affected her memory and most of last night was a blur. She could remember vague snapshots, such as Beth singing very old songs down her phone, Sarah pretending to strangle herself with Felix’s pink fluffy boa _(probably her and Rachel’s foreplay)_ and Helena banging pots and pans together as Beth limboed under sticks. Cosima could also remember seeing Delphine in a park, standing close by water. She wasn’t entirely certain whether it was real or not, whether it was a drink and drug-fuelled dream. She couldn’t remember what Delphine had said word for word, but everything had felt so real. From the way Delphine held her hands, to the way she cupped her cheek, to that very familiar glint in her eye as she stared at her. There was possibly _no way_ a dream would invoke that much emotion for her, and Cosima periodically found herself touching her cheeks throughout rehearsal and still imaging holding Delphine’s hand rather than the neck of her guitar.

 

 

They soon arrived at Felix’s loft to get ready for the performance and Cosima was partly thankful that her thoughts could finally be occupied on something else. Felix wasted no time in styling each band member so that they looked dressed for the part. Beth looked smoking as per usual, and Sarah was able to rock the black suit whilst still keeping that needed punk-edge, keeping the studded belt, the slightly rumpled hair, and the smudged eyeliner. Helena looked suited and booted ready to shake the maracas and other hand-held percussion instruments to death and Cosima was also pleased by how much of a good job Felix has done as she looked at herself in the mirror.

 

“Okay, guys, all done now. I’ll go and tell Tony you’re ready so we can get the van loaded,” Felix shouted with a smile and walked out of the loft, giving the band members some time to chill before they crammed into the van.

“Hey Sarah, you okay?” Cosima asked with hesitance as she walked through the hanging beads to Felix’s bathroom. Sarah was still fairly quiet even after the car journey and when getting ready. Cosima didn’t know whether it might’ve been last minute nerves or other things playing on her mind.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Sarah stared at herself in the mirror, unbuttoning then buttoning up her top button. Cosima stared at Sarah in the mirror, watching her continue to play with the buttons. “Fine, no, there’s been things on my mind, alright?”

“You can talk about it,” Cosima gave Sarah a look of reassurance in the mirror.

“I just don’t wanna balls this up. Not only will I embarrass myself but I’ll do it in front of Rachel,” Sarah briefly closed her eyes as the woman in question came to her mind. “I don’t feel like I’m good enough for her anyway, this is only just gonna make things worse.”

“Sarah,” Cosima grabbed Sarah’s shoulders and turned her to face towards her. “You are good enough, you’re even better, you’re _Sarah freaking Manning_ ,” Sarah began to smile. “You’re the punk-rock ho that could get anybody they wanted. If Rachel can’t see you for yourself, don’t change for her. Stay the same.” Cosima grinned as she kept the tight grip on Sarah’s shoulders. “You’re amazing and I’m sure Rachel already thinks that.”

“She’s been ringin’ me all day Cos, saying we need to talk. She’s angry at me, she doesn’t want m-“

“Don’t jump to conclusions, okay? Have you answered any of the calls?”

“No, been avoiding as per usual. I dunno if I did anything las’ night, if I did I’d remember wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, but the more you worry the more chance we’re gonna fuck up,” Cosima pointed out and Sarah nodded.

“You’re right. I might never own her heart, but I am gonna at least beat her arse.”

“I hope you meant that in a musical way.” Cosima winked.

“Of course. Come on silly tit, let’s get going.” Sarah draped her arm over Cosima’s back and led them out of the bathroom. “Oh and Cos?”

“Yeah?” Cosima replied.

“Go for it with Delphine.” Sarah began to smile. “She seems to like you, and you seem to like her.”

“Yeah, I really do.” Cosima blushed at the mention of Delphine. It meant a lot to her that Sarah was giving her her blessing, it's not like Sarah to trust people, especially people in rival bands. 

“Don’t arse around then, get to her.” Sarah paused. “Not until we finish this though.”

“Come on guys! The van will leave without us!” Beth shouted as she held her bass guitar carry cases. Sarah and Cosima shared a last glance before separating and carrying their cases and other equipment to the van. Once packed, Tony made sure to put the pedal to the metal, and the band members certainly felt it as they flew all around the back of the van.

 

“Please don’t spew, that carry-case is new,” Beth said with worry as held onto MK who looked greener by the second. “Hey, that rhymes!”

 

Luckily Bobby’s wasn’t too far away and the band got away without getting any serious head injuries.  
“Our heads will start bangin’ the moment the volume is cranked up,” Sarah commented as they carried their stuff in.

“What? We’ll be glassed by Rachel and Alison simultaneously?” Beth replied and no one was certain whether she was joking or not.

“Shut up Beth. Stop whining about Alison for one soddin’ moment.”  
Once inside, the band were surprised to see the large turnout, and even more surprised to see the stage layout.

 

“Hey guys!” Bobby appeared at the bar with a smile.

“Bobby, why are there two stages?” Sarah’s voice showed concern as she looked at the two stages opposite to each other, separated by a large gap for what would be the audience later on.

“Well, Sarah, one of the rival band members has requested their own stage.”

“Of course.” Sarah rolled her eyes, not surprised at all. Rachel doesn’t want to share her stage with anybody, especially not Sarah Manning and the rest of The Doodles. 

“Plus the layout will help to build the tension. Not like there hasn’t been enough of that already, right?” Bobby gave her a nudge and a playful wink. Sarah grimaced in response.

“Cheer up Sarah. Just look at the turnout!” Felix smiled as he saw how packed full of people Bobby’s was. “There might be some representatives here!”

“Dudes, I’m gonna make sure the sounds are gonna bang. Felix, we could also do with setting up the merch stand to get some extra coin.” Tony piped up.

“Good thinking. Come on you lot, no time for slouching at the bar, you’ve got work to do.” Felix paraded the band members to sort out their merchandise stand, other than MK, who sat at the bar and shyly sat with her iced tea.

“We should be payin’ other people to be doing this.” Sarah groaned as she carried a heavy effects rack. As the band members walked in, they spotted MK at the bar with a small group of fans.

“Mika, can I sign your cast?” One fan asked holding a pen.

“Sure,” MK smiled. MK signed autographs whilst fans signed her cast.

“Look at Mika gettin’ all the girls,” Sarah pointed to MK who was sat at the bar.

“She’s awesome though Sarah.” Beth smiled.

“Beth! Please sign my autograph!” The band members all stopped to sign autographs, with Beth Childs being very popular with the teenage girls for some reason. Helena also happily signed autographs, with even some dedicated fans giving her food.

“Wow, our popularity seems to have increased!” Cosima shouted as she smiled at the group of fans, some of them even trying to play with her dreadlocks. The fans soon died down after a while after Felix told them to give some space, and the bar quietened down.

“Can I have an autograph now Mika?” Bobby asked.

“Sure.” MK giggled and signed away.

“Can I sign your cast?” Bobby smiled. MK nodded and Bobby walked around to sign it. “Here.”

“Awesome.” MK smiled and Bobby bounced back around the bar.

“Hey, look who it is!” Beth pointed to Krystal who had just walked in.

“Very blonde. Pretty hairs. Sexy lady,” Helena commented as she watched Krystal walk in her pink dress and freshly styled hair, clearly dolled up for the performance.

“She’s deffo fancying a shag tonight,” Sarah remarked which earned a slap from Cosima. “Hey! Just statin’ the facts.”

 

 

At the bar, MK took a sip of her iced tea and wondered why would anyone want a Bloody Mary as she eyed the cocktail menu. She abruptly turned around when she caught a whiff of very nice (and very expensive) perfume that someone normally wouldn’t wear to a place like Bobby’s Bar.  
“Hey,” Krystal whispered, making sure to lean in close to MK’s ear. “Happy to see me?”

“Yeah, very,” MK beamed and Krystal took a seat next to her. “I’ve missed you.”

“Aww, I’ve missed you too.” Krystal pouted as she looked at MK’s leg in the cast. “Does it hurt?”

“Not really, I think I’m still a bit high from the painkillers.”

“Baby.” Krystal cooed.

“I’m fine, it’s no big deal.” MK smiled and played it off. She looked at Krystal who looked down at the cast and her eyes widened when she saw what kind of dress she was wearing.  
“Krystal, you look-“

“Who the fuck is Bobby?” Krystal said loudly as she looked down at the cast and pointed to the note Bobby left.

 

 

_I love you! <3 Bobby_

 

“Oh, err,” MK uttered, and motioned Bobby to zip it as she walked over and slowly walked the other way. “Just a fan.” MK wondered whether Krystal even remembered this place was called Bobby’s Bar.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” MK began to smile. “She’s got nothing on you.”

Krystal giggled and flicked her hair with a blush. “That’s really hot. And that’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

“Would you like something to drink?” MK asked as she studied the menu of drinks and cocktails.

“I’d like sex on the beach please.” Krystal smiled innocently as she looked at the cocktail menu whilst MK progressively got redder and avoided looking down at Krystal’s cleavage. “Oh, and a drink of lemonade.”

If this was a grocery store, MK was sure she’d be mistaken for a cherry red tomato.  
“Uhh, uhh, okay.” MK motioned Bobby over to order the drinks.

“Yeah. I don’t wanna get drunk tonight.” Krystal commented as the drinks were brought over. “I wanna remember _everything._ ”

“Uh....huh.” MK’s eyes trailed down to Krystal’s lips as she bit down on the straw with a smirk.

“And I wanna take care of you.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Mmm-Hmm.” Krystal bit down on the straw as she swirled it in the glass. “You won’t have to lift a finger later.” MK blushed as Krystal leaned on her chair to tie the black tie around her collar into a little bow.

“Uhh, is that necessary?” MK breathed, feeling shivers down her spine as she felt Krystal’s hot breath on her neck.

“Yes. You need plenty of time for recovery,” Krystal finished tying the bow with a smile on her face. “ _In bed._ ”  
MK’s eyebrows raised as Krystal gave her a cheeky wink.  
“Even if you don’t win tonight,” Krystal held both of MK’s cold hands. “You win me.” She placed MK’s hands on her waist and in that moment MK thought she could explode.

 

“Krystal,” MK retracted her hands and got up from the bar stool, putting them in her crutches. She hastily stood up in the crutches and almost fell over.

“Mika are you okay? Am I coming on too strong?” Krystal said with worry as she rose up to steady MK.

“I’m good, you make me feel it,” MK began to speak, a small shy smile on her face. “And you’re not coming on too strong. You’re just being you, and I really like it.” Krystal bit her lip with a smile as MK blushed at her. “But I need to say something.”

“Shoot.”

“Okay. I think that you look beautiful all the time, and, you look amazing tonight.” MK spoke with nervousness, which melted away when she saw the big smile on Krystal’s face. “I’m still surprised you’re here, and that you wanted a date with me.”

“Mika, I always want to be around you.” Krystal reached out and softly stroked MK’s cheek.

“I don’t know why you like me. I’m nothing special, I’m socially awkward, I dress weird and I’ve got a horrible scar.”

“You’re everything special. I love the way you dress, and you're just so amazing to me. I understand that you might need time out from things and if that's from me I don't mind. I'll wait for you.” Krystal brushed some of her hair back and tender touched the scar. “And I really dig scars. They’re _hot._ ”  
MK giggled but soon turned shy again.

“I can be a handful, I can be hard to deal with at times-“

“I love everything about you. And, we can work together. I can be a handful too, I hope you know that.” Krystal smiled and MK shuffled in her crutches. “I just don’t want to overwhelm you. We can take it slow, if you’d rather, or if you need space-“

Krystal was interrupted by MK’s lips on her own.

 

“Get a room!” Sarah shouted from near the stages.

“Shh! Don’t interrupt them, man.” Cosima smiled as she watched the event unfold. _Damn, I wish that was me and Delphine._

“I knew we should’ve put _Get Lucky_ in the setlist,” Beth commented as she watched with a smile.

 

Feeling like they were being watched but not really caring either way, MK slowly and reluctantly broke away from Krystal.  
“Will you be my girlfriend?” MK asked, still feeling nervous even though she had no reason to be. 

“Yes, of course.” Krystal smiled and leaned in for another kiss but they immediately interrupted.

 

“Yeah! So tell me girl if every time we touch,” Beth sang and extended the note whilst Helena went wild on the egg shakers.

“You get this kinda rush,” Cosima joined in whilst Beth extended her note.

“Baby say yeah yeah,” Beth sang again and Cosima joined in on harmony, Sarah also reluctantly joining in. MK and Krystal watched the impromptu performance with amused smiles on their faces.

“If you don’t wanna-“ Helena sang, her voice much deeper than the others as she shook the maracas.

“Take it slow-“ the other three added harmonies.

“And you just wanna-“ Cosima sang.

“Take me home-“

“Baby say yeah yeah yeah-“ Sarah sang, not really giving two shits if anyone heard she was singing One Direction of all things.

“Yeah yeah-“

“And let me kiss you.” Beth sang the last line and people nearby (including Bobby) clapped.

 

“That was a Grammy-worthy performance, don’t you think Mika?” Krystal bit back a smile as she stared at the four giddy musicians in front of them and put her arm around MK.

“Yeah. Wasn’t expecting to get serenaded with a one direction song of all things.”

“We saw an opportunity and took it,” Beth smirked and gave a wink. “I’m glad you two are finally an item.”

“Yeah, there’s only so many shite movies we can suffer through not knowing whether or not you guys were gonna-“

“Okay, let’s let them have their own time,” Cosima smiled as she cut Sarah off. Felix approached the group.

“Mika, Tony wants to see you to get the sounds on point. We don’t want anyone to be drowned out.” Felix approached MK.

“Good point, just give me one minute.” MK nodded and Felix left. The other four still stood watching. “You guys too, not trying to be rude.”  
Helena sighed and walked off and was followed by the other three, and Sarah didn’t leave without smirking and giving a crude finger motion as she walked.

 

“I’ll meet you as soon as you’re done, okay?” Krystal smiled as MK turned to her.

“Yeah, it might take a while to get all the stuff.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll wait all night for you.”

“Awesome.” MK smiled.

“And, only if you wanted, you could maybe...stay the night at mine?” Krystal suggested and hoped she’d say yes.

“That’d be nice.” MK nodded, not trying to hide her grin.

“Excellent. I’ll make it worth your while.” Krystal smirked. “I’ve stocked up on iced tea and other sweet things. You’ll get 24-hour care.”

“That’s awesome.”

“Mmmhmm. The outfit I originally had in mind I’m not wearing.”  
MK stayed silent, her cheeks flushing red instead.  
“I changed my mind to get a Nurse outfit.”

“But how’d you-“

“Shh. That’s better." Krystal placed a finger on her lips, shushing MK. "My patient needs special treatment. Plenty of 1 to 1 care.”

“You’re funny.” MK laughed and Krystal's finger began to play with her hair.

“Well, I wasn’t trying to be funny but,” Krystal began to giggle. “I’m glad you find it amusing.”

“I’ve gotta go now.” MK spotted Felix jumping and waving at her.

“Okay babe. You’re gonna kill it.” Krystal said as she kissed her cheek. “I’ll walk you over to Felix.”

 

Meanwhile, near the merchandise stand, Alison stood with a glass of wine looking wistfully at the merchandise there was to offer, including replicas of MK’s sheep mask, a Helena wig, maracas and t-shirts with the band logo and badges amongst other things. Her eyes landed on a yo-yo with Beth’s face on with the words ‘you’re damn right’ underneath. _Trust these idiots to sell yo-yos for merchandise. What are they, twelve?_

“Hey, Ali!” Beth crept up behind Alison, who jumped in surprise as she held onto a yo-yo. “You buying a yo-yo?”

“No, I was just putting it back,” Alison fired back and placed the yo-yo back in the basket, briefly composing herself before turning around to face Beth. “Hello, Beth.”

“You came!” Beth smiled happily, showing her full set of teeth. “And you look.....wow.” Alison had certainly dressed up for the occasion, wearing a lovely pink and red little dress with her hair flowing down her shoulders.

“Thank you, Beth.” Alison blushed.

“I really dig your hair like that.” Beth smiled.

“So you don’t like me with my hair tied up?”

“No, I dig you all the time,” Beth sighed, wondering why Alison was making this hard for her. “You just look great tonight.”

“Well, you don’t look half bad yourself.” Alison looked Beth up and down, cocking an eyebrow as she took in the black and white suit that she really suited.

“Thanks, Ali.”  
There was an awkward silence for a few moments and Beth didn’t know what to say.  
“So.....you decided to come.”

 

“In the end, yes.” Alison nodded and sipped her wine.

“Was it a hard decision?”

Alison pretended to think for a while before she finally let out a sigh and gave in. “Yes. No. Listen, Beth, I’m sorry if I was-“

“An ass?”

“No-“

“A bitch? A lover?” Beth winked.

“If I was rude, before,” Alison corrected, an unamused look on her face as she stared at an excitable Beth. “I just, I was angry at you. I’m sorry.”

“Aww, it’s okay Ali,” Beth moved closer and stroked her cheek. “I missed you too.”

 

The moment was soon interrupted by Tony.  
“‘Sup pussy-grabber!” Tony butted in, and he tried to hide his surprise as he caught Beth and Alison.

“Don’t call me that,” Beth shook her head with an annoyed expression.

“Hate to break whatever thing is going on here, but we need to make sure the volumes are gonna be alright.” Tony stood as his eyes darted between the pair. Beth took a look at Alison and closed her eyes.

“Okay. Don’t want my bass turning down, do I?” Beth began to smirk as she looked between the two.

“No, you don’t,” Alison said, part of her thankful Beth had something else to be distracted with as this bar was already warm as it is without Beth charging in like a bull in a china shop, unknowingly causing an inferno. “Go. I want to hear you.” Alison spoke again as Beth was reluctant to move. Beth was her favorite member of the band, of course, she's the star of the show as far as Alison was concerned. Fair enough she may look like a _total nerd_ on stage, she completely made it her own and it was great to see her smiling with her close group of friends (or sisters, as she often claims.)

“You heard the lady.” Tony winked at Alison. “Come with me, Beth. Don’t worry Ali, she’ll be all yours once all this is over.” Tony dragged Beth away, and Alison swore she heard Beth complain about how only she got to call Alison ‘Ali’ seconds later.

 

Alison watched her go with a small smile on her face and took another sip of her wine. _She would like to see Beth after the show........to congratulate her on winning, of course._

 

She was glad to have a few moments to herself before the show began to compose herself yet again as she knew the likely effect she always experienced after seeing Beth on stage with a bass guitar in her hands.

 

“Hello, darling!” Alison closed her eyes with a grunt initially but was glad that it was only Felix and not someone else like Aynsley Norris, who insisted on coming along because she’s nosy. Alison thought she really needed to mind her own damn business but she kind of brought her into this mess to begin with.

“Hello, Felix.” Alison soon smiled when she saw her best friend stood in front of her. Felix gave her an unexpected hug and she tried hard not to drop the wine glass on the floor as she’ll be needing that if she finally decides to spill Beth the truth.

“Just figured you’d need that seeing as though you’re going to be emotionally wrecked in the next hour or so,” Felix commented with a wink.

“Thanks a lot, Felix.” Alison rolled her eyes. _I’d prefer a drink if you’re buying._

“No problem babe.”

“How are they all?” Alison’s eyes wandered off to Beth who was stood smiling talking with Tony near the stage at the other end of the bar.

“They’re all good. My troops are positioned for battle.”

“Good.” Alison paused and drank the rest of the wine in one. “They need to be.”

“Looks like you are too.” Felix glanced at the empty wine glass.

“What?”

“I see you, Alison Hendrix. You’re getting tanked up. Go on, whose house has turned down your invitation of the monthly potluck or whatever else has got you making that face.”

“No one, I’m just in deep thought.”

“About what? Beth stood in nothing but her bass?” Alison remained silent as Felix smirked at her. “I know the effect of her playing in a band has on you, Alison.”

“What effect?”

“The one that makes you wet of course!”

“Felix don’t shout, we’re in a public place.”

“A dive bar, Alison.”

“Not just any dive bar, Bobby’s Bar!” Bobby said and slapped a towel at Felix as she walked past.

“What did I tell you about snapping towels, Bobby!” Felix shouted before turning back to Alison. “Anyways, when are you and Beth gonna get your heads out your arses?”

“I don’t know Felix,” Alison anxiously pulled at her necklace.

“May I say you look very gorgeous tonight. I wonder why...”

“I need to make an effort! Technically I’m a member of the band!” Alison liked to pitch in on a few tracks playing the Korg and doing some work on backing and the synthesisers, playing the trusty Korg on the tracks _You’re Damn Right, Sexy Rachel_ (she tried to convince Sarah there was no need for the R &B piano riff but she didn’t listen), _Can I See Your Mangoes_ and on track six, the one with the rather uninventive name of _9_ on the album demo of _Sisterhood_.

 

“Hmm, good point.” Felix acknowledged with a nod of the head. “But there’s something else. You want to look good for Beth.”

“Fine. yes, I do.” Alison admitted even though Felix already knew and just loved to wind her up. “I’m thinking I’m going to tell her how I feel tonight.”

“Tonight!” Felix shouted and bounced up and down. “Oh my god! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“Felix quiet down,” Alison shushed Felix. “And I didn’t tell you because I was thinking about whether to do it or not all day, but it’s true. This past week has been...not the same, without her.”

“Aww.”

“I’m just worried it’ll ruin our friendship. What if it doesn’t last? I don’t think I’d be able to cope without her being there.”

“Just take the plunge Alison.” Felix smiled. “She really likes you, it’s very obvious. Sarah even tells me she's written songs about you.”

“Really?” Alison felt another blush coming on.

“Yeah. It’s called ‘can I see your mangoes.’”

“Very funny Felix.” Alison rolled her eyes and Felix laughed.

“Whatever. Fancy having a drink with me before the show starts?”

“As long as you’re buying.”

“And also,” Felix grabbed two of the Beth yo-yos and placed them in Alison’s hand. “Help support us.”

“Fine, I suppose Gemma and Oscar would like a yo-yo.” _With Beth’s face on it._

“Oh and about the drinks, I’m pretty skint actually. Preparing for this has been a bit expensive....” Felix looked down at his hands and Alison gave in.

“Fine. I’ll buy, but you’re staying with me, mister.” She dragged Felix away to the bar, tutting him as he gave her a cheeky slap on the ass.

 

Back towards the stage, Cosima’s eyes were never leaving the door as she waited for Delphine’s inevitable arrival. _Shit, what do I say? Do I say anything? Can I say anything?_

 

She stood feeling very awkward as she briefly looked at Sarah helping Helena put on her boxing gloves. Why she was wearing boxing gloves, Cosima didn’t know, but she just hoped that Helena wouldn’t be put into a police van again, this time for assault. She returned the smile Sarah gave her as she looked over whilst helping Helena put on her other boxing glove, although quite worried, and felt the need to get a nice glass of wine from the bar. Felix had banned everyone from alcohol tonight as they needed to be on their game, especially if The Neo Notes are going to be winning the crowd over with their complex beats and jazz time signatures. Sarah on the other hand, wouldn’t know what a ‘melodic minor’ was if it slapped her in the face in the middle of the night. Cosima had only seen The Neo Notes perform as a full band once, but didn’t need to see any more to know that they were all very skilled, knowledgeable musicians who were much capable of holding their own. Not that she thought her own band, The Doodles, were bad but compared to them, The Neo Notes did have an advantage.

You couldn’t really compare - one band was a multi-instrumental jazz band with a _hella amazing_ drummer, and the other band was a rock/indie/alternative/whatever else music the members listened to band that still practices in the front-woman’s mother’s garage even though she’s no longer a teenager, with a wild dancing twin sister having to share the stage just so she wasn’t left out (although it seemed like that at the beginning, Helena had really found her place in the band and no one could imagine it without her.)

 

Basically, The Neo Notes were the kind of band to already have a full 16 piece orchestra, a high-end soundproofed recording studio, and a record deal rather than The Doodles, whose instruments were all worn at the edges (other than Sarah's new low-end guitar) and the closest they could get to a recording studio was Tony’s haggard multi-track recorder, the cheap microphones from Mrs S’ old karaoke set and Beth’s premium version of the GarageBand app.

 

As Cosima stared into her glass of wine wistfully thinking of the couch and her gaming laptop filled with games such as Skyrim and World of Warcraft back at home, she didn’t spot her nerdy friend and lab partner Scott Smith creep up behind her.

 

“Hey Cosima!” Scott smiled and Cosima turned to face him.

“Hey Scott! How have you been?” Cosima gave Scott a pat on the shoulder as she tried hard not to think about how Delphine and her band were way too good to be performing here and how Delphine was _way_ too good for her.

“I’ve been okay, but most importantly is how are you Cosima? You’ve been absent on World of Warcraft for the past week!” Scott blurted and Cosima fought hard to silence him.

“Shh Scott,” Cosima wasn’t proud of the fact she played nerd games and didn’t want it broadcasted in Bobby’s when Delphine could waltz right in at any time. She gave Scott an eye twitch. “Don’t be too loud.”

“Right,” Scott nodded, before pulling finger guns. “Gotcha.”  
Cosima was glad that she heard footsteps only belonging to Sarah walking over, as she tried hard to not connect the palm of her hand to her face.

“Hey, she’s with me.” Sarah said as she slung her arm over Cosima and pulled her into her.

“Oh, really?” Scott’s eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, we have the best se-“

“Saxophone solos.” Cosima spluttered. Sarah and Scott looked at her with confused expressions. “Oh yeah. We’ve just recorded some uh, some saxophone solos on a few demos.” Cosima nodded with an uneasy smile on her face. Sarah kept a tight grip on her.

“Whatever. Nice to see you Scott. Hope you enjoy the show,” Sarah smiled.

“Nice to see you too Sarah. It’s only a matter of time before you two got together,” Scott winked and both the girls frowned. “You have a very close relationship.”

“Uhh....yeah......” Sarah continued to make the same expression of confusion.

“Well, I’m going to get a special potion that will increase my health points! Later,” Scott gave a dorky smile before walking off to the bar.

“What on Earth was that,” Beth said as she walked over, listening to the whole thing.

“I dunno,” music began to play as Sarah finished her sentence. “Oh god, no.”

 

The familiar violins beat and keyboard kicked in and blared over Bobby’s speakers.

 

“Hey, it’s your favorite song!” Beth shouted as she grinned from ear to ear whilst the intro of Britney Spears’ song Toxic rang out over the speakers.

“What the fuck? What is this?!” Sarah growled. _Is Rachel already here? Is she winding me up?_

“Sounds like Rachel’s spent a few cents.” Beth continued to smirk which only earned her a slap from Sarah.

“Fuck off Beth.”

“Wonder what door she came in through?” Cosima thought out loud as there was no way she had missed Delphine making an entrance.

  
“Dunno, probably fucking teleported didn’t she.” Sarah sighed whilst Beth and Cosima giggled at her.

Bobby soon approached the three, initially making Sarah jump. “Get your asses up on stage, we’re starting in five minutes.”

“Shite, looks like Bobby’s an alien robot too.”

“Hey, you wanted me to support you guys right?” Bobby wagged her finger at Sarah, reminiscent of Mrs S. “Better be on your good behavior.”

“Yes, love!” Mrs S shouted from near the bar stood with Alison, Krystal, Felix, Scott and....Grandma Kendall?

“What’s Grandma bloody Kendall doing here?!” Sarah shouted.

“ _Oi, gobshite,_ that’s no way to greet your granny.” Grandma Kendall shouted back whilst Mrs S waved and smiled politely, blissfully ignoring Grandma Kendall’s crude choice of language whilst she usually called her out on it. There were echoes of laughter in the background as Sarah sulked.

“Fucks sake, my bloody gran is here.” Sarah pouted and stomped on the floor acting like a pissy teenager. 

“You can’t ban her Sarah, it’s all ages. Just be glad Kira isn’t here.” Beth pointed out. "What about the time you took her to see _The Shit Goblins?_ "

“There should be an age restriction.” Sarah sighed and shook her head. “Her age is too high to be on the sheet.”

“That’s mean,” Cosima commented and shook her head.

“Don’t worry, she won’t hear or tease you on your love songs to Rach as she’s tone deaf anyway.” Beth sniggered.

“Gives us more reason to crank it to 11 then,” Sarah nodded and she led the band on stage, MK already in position behind the drum kit.

“What’s up Mika? Get some good finger action in?” Sarah winked and MK didn’t pick up the rude innuendo.

“No, that’s Cosima’s job isn’t it?” She replied, totally unaware and Beth began to giggle.

 

Cosima just shook her head with a laugh as she got into position on the left of the stage, plugging her axe into the amp. Sarah took center stage and Beth was on the right. Helena was due to make her big stage entrance as always and gravitated all around the stage usually but no one would be surprised if she also spent a lot of time off stage (crowd-surfing, or propping up the bar when no one was looking)

 

After a roar of applause, Bobby ran up to the stage opposite The Doodles, which was unsurprisingly still empty.  
“Think they forfeited?”

“Hardly Beth. Like Rachel would give up. Any excuse to see me on my knees,” Sarah rubbed her eyes tiredly and messed her hair up. Beth, MK and Cosima gave each other awkward looks before Bobby finally spoke up.

 

“What’s up everyone? How you all doing tonight?” Bobby smiled as she spoke into the mic and the audience roared. “I said, how you all doing tonight?”

“Oh get it on with it will you!” Grandma Kendall shouted. “I may be old but I heard ya the feckin’ first time!”  
A few of the audience laughed as did the band.

“Okay chill out Grandma!” Bobby grinned with amusement as she addressed Grandma Kendall who shook her head. “So, tonight is the night we have the battle of the bands, between The Doodles and The Neo Notes!” The audience made a lot of noise again as Bobby finished her sentence. “Here’s the format. Each band will take it in turns to perform a song each, for example, The Neo Notes do one song, then The Doodles, and then so on. There will be two breaks where people will vote for their favorite band, and they will be scored on audience interaction, musical ability, and charisma.”

“I can’t remember her sayin' we'll be judged on all this,” Sarah mumbled to Beth who stood nearby as her eyes trailed the audience for a glimpse of the sharp bob.

“Without further ado, let’s introduce The Neo Notes!” Bobby shouted and the crowd began to roar as people circled the adjacent stage.

“Hey! Why not us?!” Sarah shouted after Bobby but was drowned out by the audience’s excitement. The stage was fully black. From the looks of it, The Neo Notes had already garnered a few fans, as there was a lot of screaming noises and waving arms in the air.

Out of nowhere, the spotlights shined on the stage. Cosima’s heart stopped when she saw the silhouette of Delphine sat at the drum kit.  
_Oh god, this is going to ruin me._

 

The spotlights changed from the white to greens and purples.  
“Nice colors,” Helena commented as she crept up behind Sarah, still wearing her boxing gloves.

 

The spotlights began to move frantically as the air raid sirens effects sounded and the soft piano chords turned into a bouncy synth track.

 _‘When you hear the air attack warning, you and your family must take cover.’_ Ferdinand spoke dramatically into one of the mics.

 

The keyboards got louder and the stage began to light up. To say Sarah and the rest of the band were surprised was a severe understatement. Now under bright light, The Neo Notes looked different and sounded different. Instead of dressing in smart clothing like the time prior, they had seemed to take a dramatic change of style as the band members stood wearing mostly black and leather gear. Ferdinand along with Paul was dressed reminiscent of security guards or as Jones and Smith from the Men in Black series. Sarah’s eyebrows extended in a mixture of shock and confusion. _Would be fitting for them to be dressed as the Men In Black, considering there are alien forces here at large._

 

Marion Bowles’ large double bass was instead swapped for a black electric jazz bass guitar, and she was also in black from head to toe. Delphine’s style had also changed drastically, and from what Cosima could tell, she looked as though she was fully dressed in black too, wearing a leather jacket as she thrown in some energetic fills kickstarting the performance.

And to think Cosima could get any gayer, it looked like she already did. She may as well had just been throwing up rainbow flags as she stared at Delphine’s face of concentration, her choice of fiery red lipstick standing out from across the room. As Delphine met Cosima’s gaze, that’s when all the memories came flooding back to her.

 

_Oh shit, we almost did it last night._

 

Cosima’s eyes widened as she stared in realization and astonishment and Delphine sent her a wink hoping she’d be able to see.  
“Fuck Cos, you’ve got good taste!” Beth shouted above the noise. Cosima wasn’t really listening, her eyes never leaving Delphine as she found herself under her spell yet again. _I’m so stupid, how could I leave that? What the fuck was I thinking?_

 

Sarah was also staring at the stage but was waiting in anticipation for the big entrance Rachel was likely to make. And it came soon, as Rachel jumped onto the stage from practically out of nowhere, clad in black from head to toe, an almost identical look to Delphine, however, she wore a black crop top. Sarah’s eyes instantly recognized Rachel’s choice of leather jacket as she looked straight at Sarah with a smile as she pulled the hood down.

“Oh-oh-oh!” Rachel sang the harmonies as she sauntered around the stage, her head lightly banging as she got into the music.

  
“That’s my fuckin’ jacket!” Sarah yelled and pointed to Rachel’s jacket.

  
Rachel smirked as she could see Sarah’s reaction as their stage was also lit up. Delphine bit her lip as she stared back at Cosima, who probably thought that Delphine wouldn’t notice her ogling although she did. Got you in my sights now, little merde.

 _'When two tribes go to war,_  
_A point is all that you can score!'_  
Rachel sang over the fast crashing of the drums and booming bassline as The Neo Notes covered the 80’s classic Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

 

“This doesn’t sound like jazz music!”

  
“Way to go Beth. you only just fuckin’ noticed?!”

  
“That bassline is so sexy though.” Beth nodded her head to the thumping bass as Rachel finished the chorus and launched into another one.

Not only was the bass line sexy, so Cosima thought. The drumbeat was _certainly_ desirable, but what was even more desirable was the creator of the drumbeat.

Before anyone had any time to process The Neo Notes' sudden transformation, the lights had changed to a flash of pink and the keyboard began to play a totally different song, the other instruments soon following suit.

 

 _‘I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong’_ Rachel slowly paraded back to the microphone after crazily dancing, not without what Sarah thought was a slut drop whilst staring straight at her.

  
_‘To crash the critic saying, "Is it right or is it wrong?'_

  
“ _Lady Gaga?_ Really?!” Cosima questioned no one in particular as she only focused on Delphine and how she was making even a Lady Gaga song epic, with her excellent work on the hi-hats at the end of each line.

  
“ _Yasssss Rachel!_ ” Krystal’s shouting could be heard as she jumped up and down to the infectious beat.

  
All of The Doodles’ eyebrows raised, and Sarah huffed. _Traitor, how dare you._

  
_‘If only fame had an I.V., baby could I bear_  
_Being away from you, I found the vein, put it in here’_

 

As Rachel pointed her finger at her, Sarah really hoped that Mrs S and Grandma Kendall didn’t notice. The crowd was going wild at the performance, bouncing up and down to the infectious beat of Delphine's drum. Cosima wished she was in the audience herself. 

 

_'I live for the applause, applause, applause'_

 

Sarah wished she could say that she was surprised by Rachel's choice of song and change of sound, but unfortunately, she couldn't. Trust Rachel to choose a song about people clapping for her, and trust her to do a complete 180 by changing the whole bands' style and clothes. She wondered whether she was doing this just to spite her, it seemed highly likely. _All of the band dressed in black, leather clothes and doing weird stage moves? Yep, totally not a get at me._ At least Rachel _may_ have a sense of humor, but for some reason, Sarah didn't know whether this was a joke or not, given the way Rachel was acting so serious. 

 _'Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me_  
_The applause, applause, applause'_

Rachel approached the crowd and pointed at the bouncing fans in the front row. _Goodness_ , Sarah shook her head. _She's so vain._

_'Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)  
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)'_

As Rachel got into the chorus, the strobe lighting kicked in and the keys got louder as Ferdinand nodded his head in appreciation. Delphine went crazy on the drums, the speed at which she alternated between the cymbals and the toms even taking MK back by surprise, especially when she managed to sing the backing vocals in perfect harmony with Rachel. Marion was also into the song, making her bass face as she plucked the strings and nodded at Paul in appreciation. 

Cosima had no idea what to do with herself as Delphine stared over whilst singing the backing vocals. Not only did MK notice Delphine's intent gaze from across the room, so did Beth, who smiled in surprise. In the audience, Alison and Felix stood in astonishment. The Neo Notes really were good, and, if they performed as well as this on every song, The Doodles will be up with some _very stiff_ competition. The chorus continued as Rachel strutted like a peacock on stage, oozing seduction as she strutted in her black high heels, making singing the high notes look easy. You could tell the performance was a smash hit as Krystal gravitated closer to their stage, eventually getting lost in the mosh pit. 

 

"Oh shit." Felix mumbled, partly because of how well the Neo Notes went down with the audience and also because of Krystal's insistence of dancing and shouting to the music. 

 

Back on the stage, Sarah was thinking exactly the same thing as she watched the Neo Notes continue, none of the members missing a beat. Her worries escalated when the music began to die down, the lights changed and Delphine went into a drum roll, absolutely killing it on the toms and the snare before slowing down the pace with the kick drum. Rachel stood smiling as she listened to how effortlessly the tempo slowed and Marion and Paul soon joined in. Sarah was not expecting yet another song added to the medley, and her ears perked up as she recognized the song that began to get louder.

 _'And if you don't love me now_  
_You will never love me again'_

This night just gets weirder and weirder. _First 80's synth-pop, then Lady Gaga, now this?! Fleetwood bloody Mac?!_ Sarah shook her head. _No, this can't be happening._

"Dude what the fuck!" Beth shouted in surprise as The Neo Notes performed the legendary song. "They're doing the Mac too?!?!"

Rachel sang with emotion, the passion in her voice almost sounding angry and it was _very clear_ who the song was addressed to. Sarah stood quaking in her combat boots as Rachel angrily sang and pointed the finger once again. Cosima was also mildly frightened and turned on at the same time as Delphine's piercing stare ripped into her, making her feel very vulnerable. Neither girls knew the effect they had on their enemies and this clearly showed as the chorus continued. Cosima's worries also escalated when Delphine echoed Rachel's lines with the same harshness in her voice.

  
_'I can still hear you saying_  
_You would never break the chain'_

The song continued to last too long for Sarah and Cosima's liking as they repeated the chorus, the words cutting them like knives. On the other hand, Beth and MK were enjoying the song, nodding their heads to the beat. Helena also seemed entranced by the performance, especially by Ferdinand, who now stood shaking egg shakers. Another chorus came to an end and the drums picked up, Delphine staying true to the original recording and throwing in a fast fill whilst Paul skillfully twanged the strings, letting out his last note ring. There was a small pause and Beth smiled to herself as she anticipated what was to come. 

Suddenly, Delphine pressed on the kick drum at a fast-paced, steady beat and it was Marion's time to shine as she began to play what would be the legendary bass solo. 

"Do, do do do, do do do do do, do." Beth imitated the bass noises which irked Sarah. "Why didn't we cover this?! That bass solo man!"

"You're really pushin' me, Beth." Sarah grumbled as she watched Rachel smirk. She was also enjoying the bass solo. 

 

Marion smirked as she turned to face Delphine who stared back with determination as she hit the kick-drum. They stared at each other and the drums and bass sounded as tight as ever. Paul soon joined in, his notes increasing in volume as the beat continued and Delphine's drums began to get louder the longer Paul played. At the end of the bar, Delphine hammered on the snare, her teeth caught on her bottom lip as she lost herself in the music whilst Marion broke from the solo to improvise on the higher notes and the song hit its crescendo as Delphine smashed the cymbals with energy and fire, guiding the rest of the band through the intense instrumental. Paul got his star moment as he began his solo piece on the six-string, his fingers flying up to the near end of the fretboard. He bent the strings with a big, smug grin and closed his eyes as he lost himself in his faultless solo. 

"He's creaming all over his guitar," Beth commented and her jaw hit the floor as she took in how tight the band was as they played. These guys really were a treat to the ears, with each band member having their standout moments. Some of the crowd flocked to Paul's end of the stage as he concentrated on the fretboard.

"So is Cos." Sarah pointed to Cosima whose jaw was also dropped as she stared at Delphine, whose curls flew as she hit on the drums from a great height. Cosima mimicked Delphine's actions and also bit her lip.  _She's an animal._

 

Sarah was soon brought out of her quiet appreciation of Paul's solo by the harmonies supplied by Delphine, Paul, Marion, and Ferdinand. 

_'Chain, keep us together'_

Delphine sang in a high voice as she leaned up to sing in the microphone, feeling the heat as the lights began to travel around the stage again. Small beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she played with precision and determination, not backing down on the vocals or the drumming. The harmonies continued whilst Rachel sauntered around the stage, watching her fellow bandmates in appreciation as she listened to them playing. She soon walked back to her microphone and grabbed the mic from the stand. 

_'Running in the shadows!'_

Rachel sang with _emotion_ and _fire_ and _passion_ and it made Sarah feel like she forgot how to breathe. She also felt that all too familiar feeling between her legs that continued to grow the more Rachel swayed her hips to the music, tilted her head back in delight and sang down the mic. The harmonies continued whilst Rachel continued to sing her line and Delphine's crashed her way into a ride and hi-hat groove that perfectly complemented the faster pace of the song. The Doodles all watched in astonishment and were impressed by how in sync the members were, watching and observing each other's actions and responding to them with their own improvisation. 

 _'Chain, keep us together!'_ Rachel's bandmates sang as they watched her close her eyes to the music.

 _'Running in the shadows!'_ Rachel poured all of her being into the line, leaning closer to the mic and slowly kneeling onto the floor as the instrumental continued. The crowd went insane yet again and many reached out their hands as Rachel kneeled on the floor, her eyes closed as the spotlight shone on her. Her heavy breathing was picked up by the mic and this gave the crowd even more energy. Sarah couldn't ignore the red lipstick Rachel wore that stood out in the light, her lips hovering over the microphone seductively and she began to stare directly into the spotlight. It made Sarah even more overwhelmed when she saw the light shine from Rachel's tight black leather pants.

 _'Running in the shadows!'_   She sang again with her eyes wide open. The harmonies repeated once more before everyone finished on the same beat, and the lights suddenly cut out, signaling the end of the song. The crowd was abuzz with clapping, cheering and hollering as the song ended, with some even shouting 'I love you Rachel' and 'Yas Queen'. The lights slowly flickered back on again and Rachel was still kneeling on the floor, smiling before she slowly got up and looked at the crowd. 

 

"Hello, we are The Neo Notes." Rachel smiled as she addressed the audience. She introduced herself and the band whilst The Doodles continued to fear for their lives.

"I don't like her," Alison commented as she sipped her wine glass. "She loves herself." Felix slowly nodded and Krystal soon ran back to meet them.

"Wow, that was-"

"Terrible." Alison cut Krystal off as she sipped her wine again and Krystal began to frown. Alison turned to face The Doodles, who all stood looking nervous as Rachel and the Neo Notes stared at them on stage. Beth gritted her teeth and awkwardly adjusted the strap on her bass guitar as she was stared down by Marion Bowles. Alison let out a small sigh. _Come on Beth._

"Wow, wasn't that an amazing performance?!" Bobby smiled as she stood alongside The Doodles and the audience expressed their appreciation, other than the occasional boo from Grandma Kendall, S and Alison. "Let's see if we can top that. Here are The Doodles!" Bobby grinned at Sarah and then got off stage, leaving the band members to look at each other with fearful expressions while the audience roared. Helena was the only one of them not caring, in her own world as she got into her fighting stance and paced on the spot, throwing air punches. 

"Holy doodle, here we go," Alison mumbled under her breath. 

 

Sarah stood at the mic as she worriedly stared at the audience before her eyes darted to Rachel, who gave a grin and blew a kiss in response. 

 

"Uh.....We're The Doodles," Sarah mumbled to the audience which elicited a cheer. Beth nudged Sarah and pointed to MK, who was now wearing her sheep mask. "If you have one, put on your sheep mask now," as she said that, many of the audience put on their sheep masks. "If ya don't have one, then jus' buy one I guess." The crowd began to laugh and more laughed when MK hit out a 'ba-dum-tss' beat on the kit. Krystal had now gravitated to the front row and was stood with a perfect view of Mika, a big smile on her face. 

"Holy doodle, here we go," Beth breathed as she stared at the audience, trying to find Alison's reassuring eyes. 

"Is that the song we're gonna open with?" Cosima whispered to Sarah, who stood nervously. _Shit, I hope she doesn't get stage fright. Although, it's pretty understandable when Rachel is stood giving a death glare from across the room._

Sarah stood still, unresponsive. How they were going to perform and out-beat The Neo Notes was beyond her, and the rest of the band thought the same, although they kept a brave face. Sarah did not want to crumble under the pressure, but as she felt the judging eyes on her, she felt a shiver down her spine.

"Sestra," Helena walked up to Sarah and patted her shoulder. "Whatever happens, we have each other and we are sisters and we have a connection." 

 

A soft smile appeared on Sarah's face and she adjusted her guitar strap, then placed her fingers on the fretboard, in the shape of the opening chord.

"Ready?" Cosima smiled.

"Ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just pretend Bobby's is big enough to fit two stages.  
> Hope this wasn't too lame.


	8. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doodles fight back against The Neo Notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in updating. Hope this chapter makes up for it. It's another big 'un but it makes sense to post it all at once after a break. 
> 
> This took a very long time to edit. If there are errors in spelling/grammar that I missed I'm sorry about that too. I just needed to update because I really love writing this. It's great there are other people liking it too. Thank you all for being so kind :)

Sarah stood on the stage, feeling like she could collapse at any second. The way Rachel was looking at her with the same evil grin that had been on her face throughout her whole performance had made Sarah especially hot under the collar.

Sarah nervously looked at Mrs S, Felix and the others near the bar. They were all stood smiling, even Alison, who nodded encouragingly.   
“Pssst!” Tony caught her attention, stood in position at the mixing table close by. “You good?”

Sarah nodded and Tony gave her the thumbs up.

Quickly looking towards her bandmates, who all nodded and smiled in appreciation, readying themselves up to make a whole lot of noise, Sarah adjusted the mic stand.  
“Our first song is an original.” The crowd showed their encouragement with loud cheers. _That ought to earn a few brownie points. It takes balls to open with an original._ “We all wrote this together, in Alison Hendrix’s basement,” Sarah smiled and gave Alison a big wave. The crowd turned their attention to Alison and raised their beers to her. Alison blushed and looked down the glass of her wine. “An’ it’s just such a great song.”

“It’s hella dope.” Cosima cut in and made a circle with her fingers, trying to forget Delphine the hottie was not at the other end of the room watching her every move.

“It’s called Holy Doodle (Here We Go),” Sarah announced and the crowd cheered as MK raised her sticks in the air, hitting them together and counting them in. “And it’s the first song on our EP, _A Galaxy Of Women_.”

“We like women.” Helena grabbed Sarah’s microphone with a smile and waved at Rachel opposite.

“Helena, don’t-“

“This one is for you Ali!” Beth shouted before MK kicked the song off. The band were slowly becoming impatient and did not want to deal with yet another angry stare-fest between Sarah and Rachel.

Sarah was glad they chose to open with this song. Any others and she would’ve missed the opening chord. MK hammered on the drums, doing an impressive solo on the toms. Beth turned to face MK, smiling eagerly at her as she took in the sheep-masked drumming extraordinaire. Beth slowly crept closer to the drums, nodding to the beat. MK showed off by throwing her sticks into the air and grabbing them before crashing the cymbals.  
“That’s so hot!” Krystal’s shouts could be heard in the audience.

As the cymbals crashed, Beth came in with a steady fast pace on the bass, her eyes never leaving Mika’s as her fingers hit the strings.

After a few bars of the bass and drums, Cosima turned to face MK, letting a power chord ring out on the guitar. The heavily distorted rock sound made the audience begin to cheer. As Helena joined in on the shakers, Sarah looked over with a smile and Cosima strummed once more, letting another chord echo and the audience clapped along to Beth’s catchy bass riff with the drums. Sarah joined in with the audience to clap and as the claps got louder, the time between Cosima’s next strums increased. It got to a point where she didn’t stop strumming, Beth’s playing on bass and MK’s drumming also speeding up to match Cosima’s speed. Helena began to jump with her maracas, her hair swinging violently as she shook with force. Sarah slowly crept over to the other band members, who were very much enjoying the jam. The audience seemed to be enjoying the jam too, their claps getting even louder and the sound of stomping feet beginning to increase. One person that wasn’t enjoying the claps was Rachel Duncan, who stood and scoffed as she listened to the jam. _Insufferable and boring._

Sarah bit her lip as she watched her fellow sestras slowly lose it - Beth’s foot was tapping, MK’s mask almost looked like it was threatening to slide off, Cosima’s dreadlocks were flying and Helena was just Helena.

Sarah shook her head with a smile. She shared a stage with these nerds, her sestras. And she was damn well going to enjoy it, even if _Frosty Tits_ tries to turn her to ice.

“Let’s go girls!” Sarah shouted over the noise. Thankfully it registered as MK began the rock beat and everyone else followed, transitioning from their opening jam to the introduction of one of their most favorite songs to play live.

 

 _‘I start to feel..._  
_My head begin to pound!_  
_To every beat and every single sound!’_

 

 _‘With every touch, you draw me in,_  
_With every look my hearts poundin’_  
_And I think I’m going off track now!’_

 

The verses got the audience up on their feet, some even bouncing up and down to the punk-rock beat. Mrs S nodded her head approvingly, already knowing all the words off by heart, given by how many times the band had played it. The song is one of their best works yet. Felix smiled as he watched Sarah clearly enjoying herself on stage, shredding away at her guitar. Even Alison tapped her feet, really enjoying Beth's bass being turned right up. She wasn't a big fan of rock music, but seeing Beth smile and slowly lose her inhibitions on stage gave her a newfound appreciation of the genre. Grandma Kendall had now got up and did an Irish jig to the music.

Across the room, Rachel's eyebrows raised in surprise. Delphine sat at her drum kit, worriedly glancing over at Rachel, honestly not knowing whether she was surprised, worried or impressed. Something tells her her facial expressions would likely be the same for each one. On the outside, Rachel showed very little emotion as she watched Sarah, although her eyes did sometimes flicker to the rest of the band, who played in perfect timing. On the inside, she couldn't believe Sarah Manning had the know-how to come up with something like this. She had never seen or heard this song before, nor heard Sarah talking about it, and Rachel wondered why that was. She wondered whether the lyrics were written for her, although she knew that Sarah was angry right now _(and probably will be for a long time.)_

 

 _‘Tell me now,_  
_Cause I think I oughta know_  
_If you really wanna go_  
_All the way....with me’_

 

Sarah sang her lines as the drums slowed down and the fast guitars stopped, leaving only Cosima lightly playing a tranquil riff, that reminded her of when she’d get baked under the stars. Beth let her notes ring out and Helena’s well-timed slow shakes helped to create the slow pace. Beth, Cosima and MK added dreamy harmonies, adding in _‘oohs’_ and emphasizing the _‘with me.’_

 _‘Don’t back down_  
_Never look back_  
_Come and take the ride...with me.’_

MK’s drums now started to increase in volume and speed as the song edged closer to the chorus. Beth’s bass playing picked up and Cosima’s riff had increased too. Helena began to bounce as she shook her maracas and slowly began to dance again, rising the maracas above her head and bringing them all the way down again.

The transition to the chorus was well led by MK, who managed to fit in a lot of drumming in a short space of time to give the chorus a good kick of energy. Beth, Sarah, and Helena continued with their usual pattern whilst MK hammered between the toms and hi-hats. Cosima added a smart little riff to round-off into the chorus.

 

 _'Here we go!_  
_Don't slow down!_  
_Don't care if the fuzz is after us,_  
_We can't stop now!'_

Sarah belted out the chorus and this sent the crowd wild as they jumped to the beat. Beth had wandered closer to the edge of the stage and smiled at Alison, causing many girls to jump up and try to touch her. MK somehow managed to throw her sticks in the air whilst still keeping the fast beat and Krystal bit her lip in excitement as MK turned to look at her (with the mask on, of course.)

 

 _'We burn like fire!_  
_So don't put it out!_  
_Just scream hooooly doodle_  
_We're all here now_  
_Yeah, we're all here now'_

 

Cosima added her skilled lead guitar hook to the chorus whilst Sarah thrashed out the original chords. The others had now joined in on backing vocals, with Helena even rattling her maracas, singing the 'oohs' whilst sharing Cosima's microphone. After the last line, Cosima jumped in the air playing the main riff again, causing Beth to walk to her and stare with a grin before going back to her mic to sing the next verse, taking over from Sarah. Alison anticipated this and clasped her hands together, smiling in delight.

 

 _'We started the,_  
_Paper chain._  
_Holding hands,_  
_Won't go down in vain.'_

 

Beth giggled as she sang, sensing a grinning Tony Sawicki stood behind her holding a large poster of the band's EP, which had the band logo of the paper chain sestras that was also painted on MK's drum set. Sarah smirked as she turned to thrash her guitar at Tony, who pretended to be blown away into the drums. He winked at MK before handing the poster to Krystal, who was still stood right at the front beaming as she watched Mika. Krystal grabbed the poster eagerly and waved it.

"Buy _A Galaxy Of Women_ on iTunes!" She shouted.

The girls laughed at one of their most valued fans and continued on. This time, it was Cosima's turn to take the mic, and Delphine could feel her heart beating faster as she watched Cosima psych herself up to sing.

 

 _'All the words_  
_That you said_  
_The other night,_  
_Are they stuck in your head?'_

 

Cosima couldn't help but look at Delphine when she sang and began to feel how accurate it was to play this song for her. The Cosima fans in the audience went nuts, a flurry of dreadlock wigs could now be seen flying around as Cosima smiled, although she never broke eye contact with Delphine. After the last line, there was a short pause and Delphine wished her verse wasn't over so soon as Cosima moved back from the mic. A big grin appeared on Cosima's face as she noticed Delphine's facial expression, not thinking twice about running back to the mic and singing what was meant to be Sarah's verse.

 

 _'Cause they're stuck in mine!_  
_So did you really mean it?_  
_Did they feel just right?_  
_Can you feel the connection with me?'_

 

Felix's eyebrows raised as he watched Cosima stealing Sarah's verse, but his worry soon disappeared as he noticed Sarah beginning to smirk whilst moving closer to Cosima, leaning in and thrashing her guitar whilst stood by her side. Once the verse was done, Cosima smiled thanks towards Sarah, who began to share her mic as they want back into the pre-chorus, Sarah singing the 'tell me now' with even more fire than before as she felt Rachel's eyes on her.

After more drum fills, guitar riffs and maraca shakes later, the band had rocked their way through the chorus again. Paul and Marion of The Neo Notes even began to sing along, until they were both kicked in the leg by Rachel. Rachel _did_ like the song, but she knew it was not the right time to be singing along, especially when Sarah's eyes were burning into her the longer they played.

After the chorus, there was a short instrumental stand-off between guitar, drums, and bass, which really got the crowd moving. Some flocked to Beth's side of the stage, others to Cosima's, and many of the audience shouted out their favorite bandmember's names. There was a lot of love for MK, who began to sing in the microphone after taking off her mask.

 

 _'You're my sister!_  
_We're all sisters!_  
_We're all sisters just havin' fun!'_

 

She repeated her lines, sweat forming on her forehead as she pressed hard on the kick drum, the audience increasing the volume by clapping along. Beth, Cosima, and Sarah started to clap while Helena shook her maracas manically and jumped around on stage.

" _Ses-tra!_ " Helena shouted into the mic to beat of the kick drum, a grin forming on her face as she heard the crowd chant her name. Helena continued to shake and looked at Sarah with hope before pointing to the crowd.

"Go on then, meathead."

MK's drumming began to pick up and the other instruments followed. Helena shouted into the mic yet again.

"We have a connection, yes?"

Cosima then ripped in with her guitar solo and Helena let herself fall into the hands of the crowd. Rachel stared in astonishment as she witnessed Helena crowd-surfing, and the rest of the band grinned as they watched Helena raise her hands to shake.

" _Holy doodle,_ is that safe?" Alison worried as she bit her nails.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. She's no stranger to crowdsurfing, Alison." Felix smirked and gave Helena a little wave as she was carried around.

"S and Grandma Kendall!" Helena shouted and jiggled her maracas wildly to Cosima's Earth-shattering guitar solo.

Delphine stared in amazement as she watched Cosima lightly pluck the strings, making it look so easy. _Cosima can shred alright._ The girls in the crowd went insane and everyone flocked to see the lead guitarist sexily shred. Bras and other questionable items were thrown onto the stage but Cosima only had eyes for the one love in her life - her guitar.

Delphine continued to watch, slowly becoming more entangled into Cosima's web as she played, each note sounding better and better. If Delphine was told there was someone who played guitar sexier than Cosima did in that moment, she would tell them to book a hearing appointment _(and a sight test too.)_

Cosima closed her eyes as she lost herself in her own creation, and the rest of the band members watched her with smiles on their faces (other than Helena, who was eyeing up the snacks at the bar whilst being passed around.)

As Cosima briefly opened her eyes, which always seemed to trail back to Delphine, she tried hard not to mess up the ending of the solo as the eyes staring back at her were saying a lot. Delphine didn't even need to speak to let Cosima know how she felt, or what she wanted.

 

The guitar solo soon ended and Sarah led the band through the chorus once more before they aimed for a big rock ending. MK tapped away on the cymbals whilst Cosima bent the strings and Beth did a funky riff down the strings before letting her last note ring out. The audience clapped and cheered as the band finished the song, and Delphine rose from her drum kit to clap. Krystal whistled loudly, especially at MK and out of nowhere a bra came flying onto MK's head.

"I've been waiting to do that!" Krystal shouted and jumped up holding her phone. MK giggled as she removed the bra from her head.

"Put it on!" Beth yelled over the applause. MK shook her head with a smile before using it to wipe her forehead. Krystal gasped and nearly fainted at the sight and Beth, along with Sarah and Cosima, smirked.

"Have this in return," MK smiled innocently as she leaned over to hand Krystal her sheep mask. Fanning herself with the sheep mask did nothing to cool herself down, as Krystal stared at her rock 'n' roll girlfriend in disbelief.

"You're _so_ hot."

"I know."

The conversation was soon interrupted by Bobby maneuvering through the crowd to get to The Doodles' stage.

"Wow," Bobby smiled as she looked at the audience, stealing Sarah's mic off the stand. "Is it just me or is it really hot in here tonight?"

"You're _damn right_ it is," Beth mumbled as she found herself ogling Alison again.

"Think she was referrin' to us, weirdo," Sarah whispered in Beth's ear and tapped her on the back.

"Sarah, Doodles, that was impressive!" Bobby turned to Sarah with excitement before looking at the rest of the band. "Cosima you were on fire, Beth was just banging and.... Mika?" Bobby paused and put a hand on her chest. "You're gonna be responsible for breaking _a lot_ of hearts tonight."

"Yeah, 'cause she's with me, so back off!" Krystal's shouts could be heard in the background. MK nodded and pointed at Krystal, who proudly exclaimed 'this is going on the vlog' as Beth stepped up to help her put the bra on.

"A bit big." MK giggled nervously as Beth took off her jacket and fastened it, so she was now wearing a pink lacy bra over her shirt and tie.

"That's what you've got to look forward to later," Beth winked and sauntered off as everyone watched the display with smiles on their faces.

"Ready for your next song Doodles?" Bobby asked with a grin.

"More than ready. Bring it on!" Beth stole the mic and Sarah was surprised that she didn't fire her usual 'you're damn right'. 

"I'm hella ready!" Cosima shouted into the mic Beth was holding.

"I agree." MK nodded, her hands pressed against the cups of Krystal's bra.

"Aren't you dopey lot forgettin' something?" Sarah grabbed the mic away from Beth even though there was one right in front of her. “Where’s Helena?”

The crowd began to look around and Sarah tried to scan for a floating Helena, but she couldn’t see her anywhere.  
“Over here love!” Mrs S shouted from the bar and Helena was sat smiling at the bar, eating peanuts next to some random guy.

“Thank you for the hat, but I must return.” Helena tipped her hat to the man with a quick bow.

“Get here meathead,” Sarah shouted into the mic and everyone watched as Helena ran back up to the stage, earning an applause as she did. Helena pointed at her new cap.

“Look sestra. Jesse towing.” Helena smiled wildly before waving towards the bar.

“Okay, Helena. So Bobby, What’s next? I thought it was The Neo Notes turn to play?” Sarah said into the microphone and stared over at the other stage.

“They did a 3 song medley, so you guys should play another two songs now,” Bobby announced and the crowd seemed to agree, as they all made a lot of noise. “The crowd are certainly ready.”

 

“Okay,” Sarah said before gathering everyone around to prepare for the next song.

“Still doing it in the same order?” Cosima whispered.

“Yeah. We all ready?”

“Yep.” Beth nodded and everyone put their hands in.

“1, 2, 3, _DOODLES!_ ” They all shouted and got to their areas of the stage. Sarah gave MK the thumbs up, who counted in and began to drum a fast rock beat.

“Are you ready Beth?” Sarah turned to Beth after speaking into the microphone.

“Uh-huh.”

“Cos?”

“Yeah.”

“Mika?”

“Okay.”

“All right fellas. **Let’s go!** ” Sarah shouted and Cosima played the opening chords of Ballroom Blitz, Beth and Sarah soon joining in.

“What about me sestra?” Helena shouted into the mic.

“You too meathead.” Sarah grinned as she played to Helena, who shook the maracas at her side.

 

 _‘Oh it's been getting so hard_  
_Living with the things you do to me’_

 

Cosima opened the song and the crowds shouted her name, a small smile appearing on her face as she strummed.

 

 _‘My dreams are getting so strange_  
_I'd like to tell you everything I see’_

 

Cosima sang as she looked over to Delphine, who was still stood up, drumsticks in hands. _At least there’s a better view,_ they both thought as they ogled the other. Cosima moved from the mic after singing her verse to walk to Sarah to strum in her face, and Sarah joined in, smiling over at The Neo Notes. Beth wandered over to the mic and began to sing, all instruments stopping other than the drums that continued to thump away, courtesy of MK.

 

 _‘Oh and see a man at the back as a matter of fact_  
_His eyes are as red as the sun!_  
_And the girl in the corner let no one ignore her_  
_Cause she thinks she's the passionate one’_

 

 _‘Oh Yeah!’_ MK shouted after Beth finished her verse. Beth turned around to quickly smile at MK before continuing.

 _‘It was like lightning_  
_Everybody was fighting_  
_And the music was soothing_  
_And they all started grooving!’_

 

Beth sang the next verse in a high pitched voice, embarrassing Alison yet again by pointing at her while she sang. _Great,_ Alison thought to herself as she looked at Beth Childs’ smug face. _This is going to be a long night._

 _‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’_ MK shouted and Cosima joined in, Sarah and Helena both swaying their heads at the same time, hair flying everywhere.

Sarah took the mic from the chorus, sharing the mic with Helena whilst the others did backing vocals.

 

 _‘And the man in the back said everyone attack_  
_And it turned into a ballroom blitz!_  
_And the girl in the corner said boy I want to warn you_  
_It'll turn into a ballroom blitz!_  
_Ballroom blitz!_  
_Ballroom blitz!’_

 

Everyone watched as Cosima strummed the opening riff and the other instruments came in, Beth letting her bass notes ring out whilst she flashed her teeth to MK who stared back. The band enjoyed playing with each other, you could see from the interaction with the audience and the interactions between the band members. Sarah’s face always lit up when she looked at Helena doing her stage moves. Cosima loved it when the four of them would all stand and play in a circle, nodding their heads to MK’s beat that was guiding them all along.

The band blasted their way through the song, the audience loving every second. The Neo Notes watched on in surprise at The Doodles playing and their close bond. Rachel was still amused that they had decided to do this song. _A smart choice, but let’s see what other songs they have under them._

 

 _‘It’s It’s_  
_A ballroom blitz_  
_It’s it’s_  
_A ballroom blitz_  
_It’s!_  
_A ballroom blitz!’_

 

Cosima played the opening riff again and the other instruments soon followed. They enjoyed the last few bars of the song before they played their last notes. The audience cheered when the song finished and the band smiled at each other before Sarah introduced the next song.

“We still good for the next track Bob?” Sarah waved at Bobby who nodded, and Sarah gave a thumbs up in response. “Awesome. So this next track was a no-brainer really.”  
Sarah looked at Beth and Cosima with a smirk and turned back to face The Neo Notes. “Hi Rach! Hope you’re all doing okay back there.”

  
“Just get on with it, Sarah,” Rachel spoke back, glaring at Sarah who just waved with a smile.

  
“It’s called Go Your Own Way. Quite fitting really.” Sarah nodded.

Cosima began to play the opening chords of the song, as she knew how much Sarah and Rachel liked to waste time staring at each other, leaving everyone else twiddling their thumbs. Sarah quickly looked at Cosima before adding the rhythm.

_‘Lovin’ you isn’t the right thing to do,’_

Sarah sang the opening line and the bass, drums, and shakers soon joined.

 _‘How can I ever change things_  
_That I feel?_  
_If I could_  
_Maybe I'd give you my world_  
_How can I_  
_When you won't take it from me!’_

The angry singing continued into the chorus and MK made sure to add a lot of extra fills to add to the intensity of the song.

 

 _‘You can go your own way_  
_Go your own way_  
_You can call it another lonely day_  
_You can go your own way_  
_Go your own way!’_

 

Sarah continued to sing with grit and emotion as she glowered over at Rachel, who, if she was shocked, wasn’t showing it. Other members of The Doodles and The Neo Notes soon picked up on this. Cosima and the rest of The Doodles just hoped that they wouldn’t ruin the song. Cosima knew just how distracting it is, the eyes on the other stage never leaving. If it was bad enough for her, for Sarah it was most likely _1000 times worse,_ what with Mrs S and Grandma Kendall also spectating in the audience.

 

They managed to get through the next verse and chorus with thankfully no mess-ups and Cosima focussed on the intense guitar solos, knowing that Rachel and the Neos were watching her every move. They would easily tell if she played a wrong note or was slightly out of time with MK.

The solos seemed to go on forever for Cosima, whose stance was tense as she bent the strings. _Why Sarah had to choose a pretty hard song (hard for the guitar anyway) was beyond her._ It’s a great song, but pretty technical for a battle of the bands in a local dive bar.

As Cosima worried she may have accidentally messed up and not even noticed, the audience roared with excitement and this increased when the song was brought to a close.

“Dude, that was awesome!” Beth said with a cheesy grin, putting her arm around Cosima.

“Cosima Niehaus on guitar folks!” Sarah pointed to Cosima as she stood at the microphone, then did a little bow before talking to the audience again. “Impressively fast fingers Cos.”

Whistles emerged from the audience and Delphine raised an eyebrow as she smirked at Cosima, who stood with a very red face.

“Lots of practice.” Cosima justified.

“Believe me, I know _all_ about that.” Sarah winked at the audience, sensing Rachel’s eye roll from across the room. “I bet they feel rough and worn-out, yeah?”

“Hmm...”

“I’ll give you a manicure! Come and see Krystal at-“ Krystal bounced up in the audience.

“Okay okay! Not the time for self-promo!” Bobby said into the mic and walked onto the stage of The Neo Notes. “Like seriously, I can’t afford anymore sponsors right now,” Bobby pointed over to Beth. “Thanks to Miss Childs over there getting us Fungs Restaurant, along with The Rabbit Hole,”

“No problem Bobby!” Beth waved at Bobby with a smile, and Alison beamed as she stood in the audience. Beth Childs was Fungs’ _number one_ customer.

“Anyways, moving on. Rachel, how you feeling? Feeling a little intimidated by the heat tonight?”

“Not really,” Rachel replied immediately, in her same monotone voice that somehow still made the crowd go wild.

“We can make this hotter!” Delphine said into the mic and rose her sticks up in the air, earning a large applause.

“If you can’t stand heat, get out of kitchen!” Helena shouted, jumping and swinging her maracas loudly.

“We are not in a kitchen if you haven’t noticed Helena. Then again, everywhere seems to be a kitchen to you,” Rachel’s reply was met with a few laughs but also a few boos from the audience. Sarah shook her head and calmed down an annoyed Helena.

“Okay, Neos, take it away!” Bobby giggled awkwardly before trying to get off stage as quickly as possible, just in case any bananas or other items were thrown onto the stage.

 

The band members took their places and began to play the opening of Lovefool.

“Dude, what even is their setlist?” Tony randomly appeared on stage behind Sarah.

“Dunno Tone, but I feel like locking myself in the ladies’ bogs for the rest of the night.”

“Me too,” Cosima whispered, feeling rather uncomfortable under Delphine’s stare.

 

 _‘Dear, I fear we're facing a problem_  
_You love me no longer, I know_  
_And maybe there is nothing_  
_That I can do to make you do’_

 

Rachel sang into the microphone, walking around the stage like it wasn’t a big deal and that the song had no meaning whatsoever.

 

 _'Mama tells me I shouldn't bother_  
_That I ought to stick to another man_  
_A man that surely deserves me_  
_But I think you do!'_

 

In the audience, Susan Duncan stood awkwardly at the bar, asking the barman to fetch her another whiskey.

“Kids eh, who needs ‘em,” Mrs S stood alongside Susan, a smile on her face as her eyes flicked from Rachel strutting on her stage to Sarah nervously watching on the other.

“Yes,” Susan did not speak much,  immediately downing the whiskey glass as soon as it came out.

 

_‘So, I cry, and I beg for you to_

_Love me, love me_  
_Say that you love me!_  
_Leave me, leave me_  
_Just say that you need me_  
_I can't care 'bout anything but you’_

Rachel made no eye contact whatsoever with Sarah during the song, which for some reason, really pissed Sarah off.

“What the? She’s definitely singin’ at me.”

“No, she isn’t, she’s barely looked at you during this. If there’s anyone guilty of that, it’s the drummer,” Tony pointed towards Delphine, who kept a steady beat and had a good stare at their stage, at Cosima in particular. “She’s been looking like that since the song started.”

“He has a point,” Beth nodded her head and side-eyed Cosima, who stared back longingly at Delphine.

“We need a plan for the next song,” Sarah nudged Beth and soon the rest of the band were involved in the discussion as Sarah made changes to the setlist (which didn’t go down great with everyone.)

“What? We’re not playing Back In Black next?” Beth complained, looked pretty annoyed as she was looking forward to getting her teeth stuck into the song.

“Nope, something better,” the discussion continued and Tony nodded his head, very excited to hear the next song.

“Dude, what an awesome choice. I’m totally down for that-“

“Only because it’s aimed at-“

“Shh! What I wanna know is who’s singing lead vocals,” Beth interrupted a bickering Tony and Cosima.

“I will.”

“Shit Sarah. Well, good luck with that.”

“Piss off Beth. After all the training you’ve been giving me it should bloody pay off!” Sarah shouted back at Beth whilst Lovefool still continued to blare in the background.

“I know Sarah and I don’t doubt you. It’s not the easiest song to sing. I just hope your voice will recover afterward.” Beth walked back to her side of the stage and looked at Sarah worryingly as Lovefool was about to finish.

The audience made some noise, some even throwing roses at the stage.

“Can you beat that Sarah?” Rachel smiled as she stood with her leg between the microphone stand. Sarah rolled her eyes.

“Of course I can, you clown.”

Not wanting an entire night of Sarah and Rachel weirdly staring at each other, Cosima played the opening riff to The Doodles next song - Supermassive Black Hole.

The other instruments joined in and Beth closed her eyes as she got into the groove, enjoying the sound of the guitar, bass, and drums. Sarah, on the other hand, stood nervously at the mic, worried she wasn’t going to hit the right notes.

 

 _‘Oh baby don't you know I suffer_  
_Ooh, baby can't you hear me moan?_  
_You caught me under false pretenses_  
_How long before you let me go?’_

 

Rachel’s eyebrows raised as she heard Sarah’s falsetto vocals. _This girl could really sing._ Beth grinned and shouted a ‘hell yeah’, very pleased she had taught Sarah to hit the high notes well, as she usually struggled to hit the highs, having a lower vocal range.

 

_‘Ooh, you set my soul alight’_

 

Beth nodded towards Cosima and they gathered to the mic to cover the backing vocals, MK also joining in on backing.

 

 _‘Glaciers melting in the dead of night_  
_And the superstars sucked into the supermassive’_

 

Helena also joined in on the lower notes, singing the _‘into the supermassive’_ before the next verse, in which Sarah pointed to Rachel.

 

 _‘I thought I was a fool for no one_  
_Ooh, baby, I'm a fool for you!_  
_You're the queen of the superficial_  
_And how long before you tell the truth?’_

 

Again came the chorus, which the band all joined together for. The song seemed to be going really well, judging by the audience. Alison was having a boogie with Felix near the bar, and Mrs S’ attempts of trying to distract Sarah by waving and shouting _‘go on love’_ were clearly not working as Sarah was too deep into the rock.

Helena too was enjoying herself, now banging her bongo drums and having a hard time not running around the stage as she usually did, thumping hard down on the bongos with a grin. Tony made sure to increase the volume on Helena’s mic to make the pounding bongos even louder, making Helena even wilder.

Sarah nervously looked at Helena whilst Cosima got her teeth into yet another guitar solo. She wondered who might’ve slipped Helena some sugary sweets before and watched her giddily jump as her sticks reverberated from the drums.

After the solo and another chorus, the song was over and the audience showed their appreciation for the band.

“We love you, Helena!” One fan shouted. Helena threw them one of her sticks and Beth was sure it may have hit their head.

“Sign my tit Sarah!” Another rowdy fan shouted, holding a marker pen.

“Sure,” Sarah smirked at Rachel on the other stage before leaning down to write, not before being pulled away from Beth.

“Come on Sarah, best behavior now.”

Rachel and The Neo Notes didn’t even wait for an introduction by Bobby and instead went straight into their next song, Rachel angrily glowering at Sarah across the other end of the room.

Beth’s ears perked up as she heard the intro to the Neos next song.

“I’m suddenly transported back to the 90’s,” she smiled as the Neos played the opening of their cover of My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It) by En Vogue. “Back to my childhood.”

“I’m suddenly transported back to the strip club in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas,” Sarah replied as they all stood and listened to Rachel sing. She sure wished it _was_ a strip club. But judging from some of the seductive stage moves Rachel was doing, it could be mistaken for a seedy club. Those dark leather pants were _extremely_ tight.

“You had a hell of a weird childhood if you liked this shite,” Sarah folded her arms and shook her head as Rachel crooned dramatically down the microphone, prowling around the stage and occasionally stopping to run her hands up and down her black leather pants.

 

 _‘No, you're never gonna get it_  
_Never ever gonna get it (no, not this time)_  
_No, you're never gonna get it (my love)_  
_Never ever gonna get it’_

 

“You can’t talk Sarah, you were in love with the _Spice Girls_ ,” Cosima sprang up with a giggle and MK joined in on the laughter.

“Britney Spears is where it’s at. God damn.”

“Thought you liked brunettes, Beth, you know, what with Alison and all,”

“Yeah but Britney damn Spears. We should’ve played a song of hers to rival the Neos version of Toxic.”

 

 _‘What makes you think you can just walk back into her life_  
_Without a good fight?’_

 

“What?!” Sarah shouted over the noise.

“ _I’m a Slave 4 U,_ ” Beth suggested with a smirk before pointing to Rachel who stared at Sarah, a leg curled around the mic stand once more. "That's an appropriate Britney song."

"Didn't know you were such a big fan, Beth." Sarah sniggered, wondering why she liked Britney Spears so much. _Beth likes everything though, she's weird like that._

"I only know them because Alison likes them,"

"Don't pin the blame on Ali. You're full of shite, as per usual."

 

In the background, Rachel sang her verses whilst Delphine joined on backing, and Ferdinand played keyboard, still wearing the stupid black shades.

Sarah sighed. The song sounded great and the audience was going wild. The Neos are going to be _really_ hard to beat.

Sarah also wondered _why_ Rachel was singing this. Then again, she always had a warm spot in her heart for 90’s R &B (She thanked her lucky stars it wasn’t Bump ‘N’ Grind, Rachel’s favorite song. She knew it’d make an appearance sooner or later though.)

 

 _'Now you promise me the moon and stars_  
_Save your breath, you won't get very far!_  
_Gave you many chances to make change_  
_The only thing you changed was love to hate!'_

 

“Someone’s in the doghouse,” Beth smirked to herself as she watched Rachel sing with true emotion. Cosima and the others giggled to themselves. Beth and Sarah always threw insults at each other, especially when music and lyrics were in the mix. 

“You can’t talk Beth. You’re always in the bloody doghouse with Ali Hendrix.” Sarah pointed a finger towards Alison, who was stood swaying along to the song, looking embarrassed and surprised when Sarah had caught her.

 

 _‘It doesn't matter what you do or what you say_  
_She doesn't love you, no way_  
_Maybe next time you'll give your woman a little respect_  
_So you won't be hearing her say, No way’_

 

“The harmonies on this are amazing,” Cosima smiled as she stared at a singing Delphine with a dreamy smile after she just finished her verse.

“I agree. It’s very fitting how Delphine is singing this bit and pointing towards Rachel. Wonder what all this means,”

“Beth, take a long, _hard,_ look at your arse, ‘cause it’s gonna be on the end of my foot in a minute if you don’t shut up.” Sarah warned. 

After a few choruses, Beth stood and watched in anticipation with a grin on her face.  
“I wonder if they do the breakdown!”

“And now its time for a breakdown!” Delphine shouted into the mic as she stopped drumming. This caught every Doodles member's attention.

“Wow, you’re right Cos. That’s one hot accent,”

 

_‘Ba ba ba ba ba ba’_

 

“Thanks, Beth. I’m glad someone else agrees.”

 

“Want me to tell Ali you’re liking French lasses now?”

 

 _‘Never gonna get it never gonna get it_  
_Never gonna get it never gonna get it_  
_Never gonna get it never gonna get it_  
_Never gonna get it’_

 

“Please stop calling her Ali Sarah. It’s really annoying. And, if I wanted, I could just get Alison to speak French. She’s very good with her languages, especially Italian, if you know what I mean,” Beth stopped talking as soon as she heard Rachel singing her favorite part.

 

_‘Ah whoa whoa whoa whoa-oh!’_

 

“Look, she nailed it!” Beth pointed at a singing Rachel with a grin.

 

Sarah put her head in her hands. _This just gets worse._

God knows what S and Grandma Kendall think. She was just pleased that Kira was spending the night at Cal’s and that neither of them was present.

After 4 and a half minutes of shade being thrown, Sarah was glad it was The Doodles turn to fight back. And so they did, although she could’ve slapped Beth when she insisted they played a different song next.

“It’ll be really cool Sarah-“

“Beth you’re a prick. You trying to make us look bloody stupid or wha’?”

Nevertheless, the song went ahead, a cover of Lonely Boy by The Black Keys with Sarah on lead vocals. At least the song had great rhythm guitar, Sarah thought, as she sang the rather awkward song to rival the Neos.

 

 _‘So you pulled my heart out_  
_And I don’t mind bleeding_  
_Any old time you keep me waiting_  
_Waiting, waiting’_

 

Rachel was far from amused by the choice of song, folding her arms and slowly shaking her head. She looked at Delphine with distaste who was nodding her head to the catchy beat. 

 

 _‘Oh, oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting_  
_Oh, oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting_  
_I'm a lonely boy’_

 

Sarah sang the chorus whilst Beth and Cosima joined in on the backing. Helena whizzed around the stage, whacking a handheld drum with one of MK’s sticks. The song continued, Cosima's loud guitar work making the audience very excited. 

 

 _‘Well your mama kept you, but your daddy left you_  
_And I should've done you just the same_  
_But I came to love you_  
_And I want to flee_  
_Any old time you keep me waiting_  
_Waiting, waiting’_

 

Rachel stood listening to the song, her eyes awkwardly meeting Susan’s in the audience, who didn’t look very pleased. The other members of The Neo Notes had to pretend they were not enjoying the rock song as their heads stopped bobbing whenever Rachel looked towards them.

The song certainly had the crowd jumping, and even Bobby herself could be seen in the background, hand holding her beer in the air as she swayed to the music. Beth noticed this when she doing some good bass action and questioned whether it was really acceptable of Bobby to be drinking. _As long as she's having a good time._

All thoughts faded away though as The Neos called for a break and The Doodles seemed to agree. Cosima’s fingers needed a good break as did MK’s leg, and Sarah was really fancying a cold beer just as Bobby was having but bit her tongue and ordered a Diet Coke at the bar. She wanted to try and avoid Rachel Duncan and beer as much as possible as she knew either of them would be trouble and both of them would be double.

Beth hurried along to the jukebox, making sure to put on a stupid song as she always did and the sounds of September by Earth, Wind and Fire soon filled the bar. Sarah was sat on her own at the bar, after convincing Felix to take Mrs S and Grandma Kendall to the beer garden for a bit so that she could clear her head.

“Hello, Sarah.”  
_So much for some alone time._

“Rachel, what do you want?”

“Nothing. I’m just here ordering a drink, wondering where Bobby or the other server is,” Rachel eyed Sarah’s glass and noticed it had Diet Coke in. “Staying sober tonight?”

“What’s it to ya, queen robot.”

“Nothing-“

“Well, it clearly does mean something then. Why are you here Rachel? Why are you talking to me? After the frosty reception you’ve been givin’ me all night-“

“I just want a drink. There is only one bar in here,”

“Can’t you just wait until I’m done then?” Sarah asked and Rachel just stared at her as if she was stupid.

“No.” There was a long silence between the two women. Sarah stared down at the bar and counted how many beer stains there was, while Rachel watched her, trying to decipher her feelings _(or, as Sarah would put it, analyzing lifeforms)_  
“We need to talk Sarah.”

_'We need to talk Sarah.' Sorry Rach, but how can we have a serious conversation when September by Earth Wind and Fire are playing in the background?_

“What is there to talk about Rach? Talk about how much of a fuck-up this whole thing is? How bloody embarrassin’ it is doing-“

“Oh, Sarah please,” Rachel smiled and let out a patronizing laugh. “Is this damaging your ego? Am I showing you up?” Sarah remained silent and Rachel continued to smirk to herself. “You’re the one who organized this. You brought it all on yourself. Right now, we could be somewhere else, _doing_ something else-“

“You’d really think I’d wanna be shaggin’ you after all this?”

Rachel slowly blinked at an annoyed Sarah. “Yes.”

Sarah rapidly blinked back. “Well guess what mate? You’re wrong.” She held out her arms and spoke angrily, but Rachel just watched on in amusement, only wishing she had a martini with ice to watch the show. “You’re never gonna get anything from me again, Rach.”

“Oh really?” Rachel knew Sarah was lying. “I thought this was why you wanted to compete against me.”

“Yes really, you’re a crazy cow who-“

“Sestra, get some nuts. You are loud when you’re hungry,” Helena all of a sudden jumped behind the back of the bar and pushed out an overflowing bowl of peanuts, a small smile on her face. “Ah, Rachel. Sexy, _sexy_ Rachel. Enjoy.” A pint of beer in a plastic cup was placed in front of Rachel, who just stared and hesitantly sniffed at it.

“Enjoy your nuts, Sarah. Goodness knows you could do with a pair yourself,” Rachel strolled off, Sarah and Helena's eyes following her as she went. Sarah was not surprised at all to see her stop at the nearest bin, open it and slowly pour down the warm beer that was in it, not looking away, before crushing the cup and walking off.

“ _Bitch._ ” Sarah growled, whilst Helena happily flicked peanuts at the back of her head.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, near the jukebox, Beth smiled to herself as she strolled away, pleased she remembered to bring her cents so she could put a few banging tunes on the box.

“Beth, it’s me.” Art approached her as she was walking away from the music machine.

“No shit dipshit, I have eyes too you know.” Beth’s tone was harsh but Art knew it was only jokes. She began to laugh at his unamused expression. “Hey Art. How are you doing? How're things at the station?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’m not at work,” Art rolled his eyes with a pause. “ _Dipshit._ ”

“What do you think of the setlist man? Rockin’?”

“Yes, I just hope there are adequate health and safety measures in here, what with Helena crowdsurfing.”

“Don’t worry Art, Bobby’s got everything under control,”

“Has she?” Art pointed to a smiling Bobby, who now stood with two beers in her hands, swaying a bit more than she was before.

“Of course. You’re allowed to enjoy yourself, Art.”

“Right.” Art said in a bored voice.

“Have you got the camera?”

“Yes, brought it especially, you know how I like my photography, Beth.”

“Don’t tell Felix, he’ll be all over you like a rash.”

“He already is.” Art said with a straight face whilst Beth laughed.

“Anyways, make sure you record some of the songs coming up.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re my songs you dumbass. They’re for my one and only doggo, the light of my life, Bark.”

“Speaking of Bark, how is he?”

“For the _last time_ Art, Bark is a girl.” Beth shot back, wagging a finger, silencing his next words to come. “And as for the name, Bark is a _gender-neutral_ name." 

“Where is she at?”

“I’ve got the dog sitter to come around. Sarah Stubbs would’ve looked after her but she’s here tonight,” Beth looked towards where Alison was now happily chatting to a smiling Sarah Stubbs, her eyes lingering on Alison for a bit too long, which Art picked up on. “But the sitter is really good with Bark, and Cody the kitten too.”

“MK’s cat?”

“Yes. I would’ve dropped them off at Ali’s mom’s but I didn’t want any crap all over the place.”

“Uh-huh.” Art watched as Beth continued to stare at Alison. “Beth, just go and talk to her.”

“That’s it though Art, I’m thinking of what to say and how to say it. I think I’m gonna tell her,”

“Tell her what?”

“That I love-“

  
“BOOBS!" Sarah shouted as she sat on a stool at the bar, causing Beth and Art to look to her instantly. Sarah waved at a confused Beth and Art. "Made you look!"

"Hello detective bells," Helena sneaked up on the pair wearing a creepy grin, shaking her hand-held bells in their faces. "How is crime at the station?"

"Pretty quiet, not many troublemakers in the cells except you and Sarah a few days ago," Art said in his usual annoyed tone and Helena continued to smile at him. "I hope you're on your best behavior tonight."

"Of course. I am a very good girl, unlike sestra Mika over there," Helena pointed over to MK, whose hand was grabbing Krystal's butt not too far away.

"That's awesome," Beth smiled at a _very pleased_ looking MK. Beth didn't want to start whistleblowing when she saw Krystal look like she was having a good time, clearly giving MK consent to grab her, as she was sat on her lap in the corner. "It's about time." Art seemed to agree, smiling and nodding his head. Helena looked on with a mischevious grin. 

"See you in a bit, Bethy. I see my sestra now." Helena suddenly bolted to the bar, pulling on Sarah's hair. Beth just _knew_ she was going to tell Sarah. 

 

* * *

 

 

The break lasted for another 10 minutes, with Beth awkwardly hanging around staring at a chatting Alison, wondering whether or not to approach her. Sarah sulked at the bar, MK stayed around Krystal and Cosima spent a while in the beer garden with Mrs S and Grandma Kendall, trying hard to resist the urge to have a smoke herself. She was about to go back inside, until a figure stood next to her and lit up a cigarette, puffing out smoke into the night. Cosima looked closely at the smoker and would've moved away and made some comment about how bad smoking cigarettes are for you until she saw who was puffing on the cigarette.

"It's a bad habit, I know." Delphine sighed, looking towards Cosima before taking one last puff before stubbing it out and putting it in the nearest bin. Even though second-hand smoke wasn't the most pleasant thing to be around, she wished Delphine wouldn't have put out the cigarette. She made smoking look _really hot._

Cosima briefly looked around to see Felix leading Mrs S and Grandma Kendall back into the bar with a wink. She smiled to herself.

"It's just you're making me wish I had some weed on me." Cosima stuck her hands in her blazer pockets, partly telling the truth. She took a long look at the night sky before she spoke again. "I think you look..... _.smokin'_ hot."

Instead of cringing like Cosima thought she might've, Delphine giggled at her embarrassing compliment. "Ah, merci beaucoup." She shook her head, curls flying. "Thank you very much."

"Yeah........I like your choice of clothes," Cosima held her breath as she looked Delphine up and down. She looked really good in black, especially in those black leather pants and black knee-high boots. Cosima was just thankful they weren't thigh-highs. _THEN_ she'd be a real mess.

"You look handsome, Cosima." Delphine smiled as she looked at Cosima in her suit, lightly touching her bow tie. " _Very_ handsome." 

Cosima gulped as she saw how close Delphine was too her, only for Delphine to soon move away. There was a short silence in which Delphine was looking up at the stars and Cosima was just stood watching her. 

"Aren't you cold?" Cosima soon asked as Delphine was stood without a jacket in a black tank-top.

"A little."

"Here," The suit jacket was taken off and wrapped around Delphine's shoulders. Delphine smiled as Cosima wrapped the jacket around her.

"Thank you, Cosima. But won't you be cold now?" Delphine asked with concern as Cosima now looked anywhere other than Delphine.

"I'm not cold," she replied, her face feeling like it was on fire, but her body shivered slightly. Delphine noticed Cosima shiver and began to giggle. "Not that warm either."

"Okay," Delphine grinned, moving behind Cosima and placing her hands on her waist. "What about now? Still cold?"

"Uhh, no,"

Delphine pressed her body into the back of Cosima, whispering into her ear. "Now?"

"Delphine," Cosima breathed shakily, Delphine's words vibrating down her body. 

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No," Cosima replied a bit too quickly and felt quite embarrassed. "It's just......is this the right time?"

"I think it is," Delphine looked up at the sky with a smile, before looking at Cosima. "Now all we need is some wine, a box of truffles, and a place by the river in Montreal."

"That's quite specific," Cosima bit her lip with a smile.

"It's my idea of a dream date," Delphine spoke after a few moments of gazing at the stars. "I want to go with you."

 

Cosima's eyebrows raised. She didn't think Delphine was being serious at first.

 

"Really?"

"Yes. After all of this is done, I am going to take you with me." Delphine smiled and played with a dreadlock. "No Rachel, no Sarah, no distractions. Just you and me."

"Seriously?" Cosima couldn't quite believe her luck. Any other girl would've probably dumped her after being ditched for her friends/bandmates/sestras. "What about the other night?"

"What _about_ the other night?" Delphine replied in a deep voice, smirking and wiggling her eyebrows. "I enjoyed what we had done, Cosima. I was a little bit disappointed there was very little finger-action...."

Cosima almost choked on the night air. "What?!?"

Delphine began to laugh. "Like there is tonight," Cosima blushed as Delphine continued to giggle, her eyes cast downwards Cosima's lips. "But......there is always plenty of time to make up for."

Cosima sighed, feeling relieved Delphine hadn't given up on her. 

"I have all the time in the world." Cosima smiled, turning around to face Delphine. She wrapped her arms around her body, not caring if Sarah or Rachel were to walk out any minute. "Though, we probably don't have long now." She added as Delphine leaned in to meet her lips.

"Let's not waste it then, shall we?"

"Wait!" Cosima interrupted Delphine, who was just about to kiss her. 

"What now, Cosima." Delphine jokingly rolled her eyes.

"Does this mean you want to be my girlfriend?" 

After a silence, in which Delphine just smiled at her, Cosima's question was answered as their lips collided, and Delphine passionately kissed her, long, hard and slow.

"Yes," Delphine said breathlessly as she gazed at a lovestruck Cosima. "I am your girlfriend." 

"Yippee!!" Cosima broke away to briefly jump up and down, and Delphine watched on in amusement. 

"You're ridiculous."

"I'm just very happy a beautiful woman likes me. Like, _likes likes_ me."

"Did the kiss confirm that for you?"

"Yes, but it's always nice to have it in words."

"You're _very_ cheeky."

"I know."

"Cosima, you little _shite,_ get back in there!" Grandma Kendall came walking out into the garden and saw Cosima and Delphine now stood holding hands. "Ooh, Cosima. You've done well there love, look at her!" Grandma grinned as she looked at Delphine. 

"Delphine, this is Grandma Kendall." Cosima introduced the two, who shook hands. 

"Can I call you Grandma Kendall?" Delphine asked with a pleasant smile.

"Of course hun, everyone calls me Grandma Kendall," Cosima smiled as she looked at Delphine and Grandma Kendall. "If you ever want any cakes baking, just come to me."

"Thank you, Grandma Kendall." Delphine giggled.

"But if it's just Sarah askin' you for it, tell her to stop munching, the _greedy bastard._ " Grandma Kendall laughed and walked back to the bar. Delphine also giggled to herself. 

"It may sound harsh, but she's like that with Sarah. It's just banter."

"Can I join in on _'the banter'_?" Delphine asked and Cosima began to laugh. 

"Hey, you're sure to be part of it now," Cosima smirked. "Unless you don't want to be."

"I'd love to be."

"Totes awesome." None of Cosima's exes could stand the banter amongst Cosima and her friends. Cosima was just glad Delphine was willing to get an insight. "I can already tell you're gonna be a hella-rad girlfriend."

"Am I not already?" Delphine winked.

"Of course you are, I mean, you play the bad-ass drums. And the way you do it........is so fuckin' hot, Del." Cosima looked Delphine up and down again, taking in the beauty of her new girlfriend. "How can you play in them?" She pointed to Delphine's high-heeled boots.

"Easy," Delphine whispered. 

"Wow," Cosima said breathlessly. _No wonder Sarah likes Rachel in her high heels so much._ And she thought Sarah was weird when she said that she liked the idea of having a high heel pointed towards her neck. _Delphine can step on me anytime she likes._

 

Thankfully, before any sexual activities could occur, a loud horn sounded from inside. Bobby soon ran out with beers in her hands. 

"Come on guys we're starting again!" She shouted with a smile.

 

Delphine and Cosima walked back in, holding hands and stared at by everyone. 

"Oh." Cosima sighed as she looked at Sarah, who looked very pissed off.

"Don't worry Cosima,"

In the background, Beth cheered on the stage, Alison whistled and Felix smirked. 

"Go get it, girl!" Krystal shouted and waved.

The couple soon made their separate ways as Cosima headed for the other side of the room to her band. 

"Cos, you beast!" Beth high-fived her on the way up the steps.

"Cheers Bobby for the cliterference, needed to start sometime." Sarah sighed into the mic as she watched Cosima giggling with Beth.

"No problem, Sarah. Now, whose turn is it to play?" Bobby said with a large smile.

"Ours." Rachel said harshly. Sarah's eyes widened.

"What the f-"

"What a _nice_ axe that is," Beth grinned as she looked at the glossy guitar that was now slung over Rachel's body. 

"Shut up Beth," Sarah fired, very annoyed Rachel could have a guitar like that. The guitar was identical to the one Sarah had first seen in the guitar shop, except it was in black. "Since when did Rachel play guitar?!"

"Maybe since she blew you off and stopped sleeping with you," Beth's comment earned a lot of giggles from MK and even Helena. "Instead of rolling around with you, she probably got guitar tuition. Then again, maybe she learned some expert tips from you anyway, _Lindsey Buckingham._ "

"For the last time Beth, it was just a coincidence we both decided to play Fleetwood _bloody_ Mac.  And Stevie and Lindsey are in the same band, me and Rachel aren't," Sarah continued to do what she did best, standing around and looking miserable, so Alison once said. "Rachel being _Stevie bloody Nicks,_ " she whispered. 

Beth continued to smirk and Sarah scoffed as The Neos began their next song - I Think I'm Paranoid, made famous by Garbage.

Rachel slowly plucked the strings of her very expensive guitar and Sarah looked on in jealousy. Sarah didn't know whether she wanted to be Rachel, so she could be playing that damn-fine guitar, or whether she wanted to be the guitar that was rubbing against Rachel's leather pants.

"Hey Mika, it's your favorite!" Beth turned to face MK, who was sat grinning behind the drums. "Coming to think of it, it's one of mine too."

"Oh really?" Sarah feigned interest, folding her arms.

"Ooh yeah. Shirley Manson in the music vid is _smokin'_." Beth winked. Cosima started to giggle. _At least Beth uses that word too._

"I agree," MK nodded. "Totally."

Sarah turned to face MK. "Thought you liked blondes, Mika. You've got Krystal now." 

"Krystal is in a whole other league compared to Shirley."

"You love her like puppy." Helena grinned.

"Yeah, Ali's in a different league too,"

"Don't lie, Beth," Sarah sniggered. 

 

They watched as Rachel sang huskily into the mic. 

 _'You can look but you can't touch_  
_I don't think I like you much'_

 

"I really like the bass in this song," Beth commented as she watched Marion play bass.

"I really like the drums in this song," Cosima said as she looked at Delphine with a dreamy expression. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I like the drums too," MK agreed. "I like everything about this song."

Helena seemed to have a different opinion. "I like _nothing_ about this song." She mumbled, shaking her maracas and scarily staring at Rachel who happened to glance over.

"Me too, sis." Sarah also gave Rachel a death glare. 

"I like the lights in the background," Beth nudged Cosima with a smirk. 

"I like the choice of outfits," Cosima said with the same expression as Beth, nudging her back.

"Would you all **STOP** complimenting _Lady Icicle Tits and The Icicles_ over there an' focus on what we've gotta do next!!" Sarah shouted. She looked like she was about to explode.

There was a short silence until Helena spoke. 

"I like jello and sharp things."

"I like Krystal," MK added, giving Krystal a little wave.

"We know, you bellends." Sarah scoffed. 

 

 

 _'Heaven knows what a girl can do_  
_Heaven knows what you've got to prove'_

 

_'I think I'm paranoid!_

_And complicated!'_

 

"I think you're right, Rach," Sarah said under her breath as Rachel strummed fast on the guitar. "You're not normal now are you?"

 

_'I think I'm paranoid, manipulated'_

The Neos' stage was ablaze with many blue lights, most of them pointed towards Rachel. The band was not holding back -  Marion's head nodded as she plucked hard on the strings, and Delphine's hair flew as she did a quick drum fill before the next verse.

 

 _'Bend me break me_  
_Anyway you need me_  
_All I want is you'_

 

"Not a lot of effort there," Sarah scoffed as she watched Rachel play the guitar. "Just the same power chords over and over,"

"She IS playing rhythm though Sarah," Cosima stated.

"What you tryna say Cos?!" Sarah seemed to take offense. 

"Well, she has to keep the rhythm going you know, like you do for me," Cosima replied awkwardly as Sarah frowned.

"You play pretty much the same thing anyway," Beth commented, also not realizing Sarah would take offense to that as well.

"No way, I am _much_ better than her," Sarah slowly shook her head. If looks could kill, Cosima and Beth would be 6 feet under. "I'm a rock god compared to her."

"A rock god?" Beth began to laugh. "Oh, Sarah."

"Shut up Beth, remember who's the frontwoman here."

"Well, I do sing some songs, and I write a lot. I wrote and produced  _You're Damn Right_ all by myself,"

"You play bass. That's the easiest instrument of all of them."

"What about Helena's shakers?" Beth retorted and pointed to a smiling Helena shaking away. 

"I like being easy," Helena commented with a proud smile.

"So does her over there," Sarah pointed towards a singing Rachel. Beth rolled her eyes. _No wonder Rachel was always annoyed at Sarah. What a chump._

 

Oblivious to the bickering on the other stage, Rachel continued to sing. It was a great choice of song, so Beth and MK thought. It really suited her voice and Rachel playing the guitar seemed to make everything 10 times sexier. It was that bad that Sarah was worried about her own appearance as she gazed at Rachel from across the bar. It didn't help with Rachel doing her stage moves when she performed, often dropping to the floor and slowly working her way back up again; and when she seductively walked the perimeter of the stage and watched her bandmates.

 

 _'I fall down just to give you a thrill_  
_Prop me up with another pill'_

 

"Damn, that's pretty sexy,"  Beth commented as Rachel was kneeling towards the floor, mic in her hand. The audience at the front went crazy and tried to touch her. Beth got out the bag of popcorn that Art had given her before, smiling and scoffing some whilst watching Rachel.

"Carry on Beth. I'll be telling Alison in the next break," Sarah waved at Alison, who was too busy dancing with Felix and Sarah Stubbs to notice.

"What the?" Beth stopped munching to watch Alison slap Felix's ass in the audience. "Okay, them two are enjoying themselves too much."

"Now you understand why I'm worried," Sarah replied, clearly worried as she saw how many of her so-called friends and family were rocking out to The Neo Notes. 

 

The band continued to watch The Neo Notes' entrancing performance, with Rachel impressing more and more as the song went on, especially towards the end.

 

 _'Steal me, deal me, anyway you heal me_  
_Maim me, tame me, you can never change me_  
_Love me, like me, come ahead and fight me!_  
_Please me, tease me, go ahead and leave me!'_

 

"Well, if this isn't awkward," Beth scoffed the popcorn annoyingly in Sarah's face as Rachel sang with true emotion, staring at Sarah and doing the occasional finger point.

"Bog off," Sarah swatted Beth away, knocking some popcorn onto the stage. Helena immediately bolted into action and hoovered it up. 

"Hey. 5-second rule everybody!" Cosima tried to justify it and held up her hand, only for Helena to harshly slap it a few moments later after finishing the popcorn. 

 

 _'Bend me_  
_Break me_  
_Anyway you need me_  
_As long as I want you baby it's all right.'_

Rachel repeated her final verse before the lights dramatically stopped, and the Neos stood in the darkness. The audience went crazy with their applause.

"Rachel you're killing me!" Could be heard from an enthusiastic fan.

"Yassss Queen!" Another fan shouted.

"Come on, now is our time to attack," Beth jumped into action with her bass, the popcorn now being munched by Helena. 

"Good point. Let's go." Sarah replied. The Doodles immediately started their next song, aptly called Back In Black as the audience was still cheering for Rachel. The audience was taken by surprise as the iconic guitar riff blasted through the amplifiers; even Tony had to stop clapping. 

 

 _'Back in black!_  
_I hit the sack_  
_I've been too long I'm glad to be back!'_

 

Sarah sang like an animal down the mic as the room was still in darkness. Goodness knows how any of them could know what they were playing, but the band's muscle memory of their instruments was very good. The audience were shook by the sudden music. Helena threw popcorn at the audience, and all they felt in the dark was the popcorn hitting their heads. In response, they began to get angry and there wasn't much cheering. None of the band members could stop Helena as they couldn't see anything.

It was becoming increasingly worrying as they got to the chorus.

"Tony! Put the lights on! Beth shouted. 

"I can't! Something doesn't seem to be working!" Tony shouted back, worry evident in his voice.

 

Sarah carried on singing, unaware that the audience was slowly losing interest.

 _'Cause I'm back_  
_Yes, I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back_  
_Yes, I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back, back_  
_Well, I'm back in black'_

As Sarah sang the chorus, orange sparks flashed from the lights directly above the stage.

"Oh my god!" Alison shouted. The audience began to scream and the band abruptly stopped performing, all wondering what was going on.

" _Oh shite,_ " Sarah whispered as the lights began to spark. "Quick! Get off!"

The band dashed from the stage, and Beth and Krystal helped carry MK from her drums. The sparks continued as Tony rushed to make things right at the sound and lighting desk. 

Thankfully, someone had now turned on the lights of the bar. The audience continued to scream until Bobby walked up with a megaphone. 

"It's okay guys! Just some minor technical difficulties there!" She laughed, beer flying from her mug. "In the meantime, let's give it up for the Neos!"

" _Minor_ technical difficulties?!" Alison voiced what everyone else thought as she kept a close proximity to Beth.

"Sarah! Are we going to be okay to perform?" Beth and the rest of the band flew questions at Sarah, who put her hands in her hair. 

"I dunno alright! Stop talking!"

"Sarah?"

"Sarah!" Fellow bandmates and friends shouted. 

The Neo Notes began to play regardless.

"Give up while you still can, Sarah." Rachel smiled as she stood at the mic. The opening chords of Oops I Did It Again began to play. "I'm not that innocent." She whispered as the band nodded to the funk. It was almost as if the audience had just forgotten about The Doodles' misfortune, as they swayed to the music. 

"I gotta," Sarah stared worriedly at Rachel who smiled in her face to the music. "Go," Sarah slowly backed away, bumping into other people before running out of the bar. 

"Shit!" Beth shouted, and Alison held onto her. "Don't leave us, Sarah!"

"Sestra!" Helena cried, shaking her bells in sorrow as Sarah disappeared. 

"Fuck," Cosima mumbled. "I'm gonna go after her,"

"No Cos! You're staying here!" Beth pulled her back, but Cosima managed to escape her grip and followed in Sarah's direction out of the bar.

"Oh no," MK mumbled, and Krystal pouted as she stroked MK's hair.

"It'll be okay, baby. It doesn't matter if you lose. You're always a winner to me." Krystal reassured her, and MK rested her head on her shoulder.

 

"God damn," Beth face-palmed. The remaining members of The Doodles stood looking miserable, as did nearby family and friends. Helena was sobbing, Mrs S was swearing under her breath, Alison looked like she was ready to murder someone, Felix worriedly held a phone to his ear, Beth stood looking empty, and MK just collapsed into the warmth of Krystal as Oops I Did It Again played in the background.

 

At least Bobby and Grandma Kendall were having a good time, jigging along to the music.

 

Things aren't looking so good for The Doodles now. 


End file.
